Tamakashiwa niwa mo hahiro ni nari ni keri ko ya yū shidete kami matsuru koro - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

玉柏庭も葉広になりにけり
こや木綿しでて神祭る頃

Roma-ji: Tamakashiwa niwa mo hahiro ni nari ni keri ko ya yū shidete kami matsuru koro
English Translation: The jeweled oak trees
even in the garden now
have spread their broad leaves;
is this the time of hanging
cotton strips to serve the gods
Meaning: Even in the garden the fine oak trees have spread their broad leaves. Is this, then, the season when we hang sacred cotton strips and worship the gods?
Commentary: Book Two Summer Poems 97

Seeing the oak leaves spread wide in the garden, the poet wonders whether now is the season for hanging sacred cotton strips and worshipping the gods. Oak leaves were long used as vessels for offerings to the gods, and in their thick growth he senses the season of early summer festivals.
The Fourth Month was rich in rites such as the Kamo Festival, and following poem 92 of Book One, which spoke of the Kamo Festival's abstinence, this poem conveys the air of the early summer festivals. The sacred hill of Kamo also appears in poem 102 of this book.
The author, Tsunenobu, is Minamoto no Tsunenobu. A son of Minamoto no Michikata, he rose to Major Counselor and was called the Katsura Counselor. In his last years he died at his post as Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu. He was the father of the compiler, Minamoto no Toshiyori.

First line, 'tamakashiwa', is an honorific name for the oak, tama being a prefix of praise.
Second line, 'niwa mo hahiro ni', is the garden oak grown broad of leaf, and mo extends the scene from hills and fields to the garden as well.
Third line, 'nari ni keri', joins the perfective nu with the exclamatory keri to express sudden realization. The poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, 'ko ya yū shidete', uses ko ya, is this, with the questioning particle ya; yū shidete means hanging the cotton strips used in Shinto rites.
Final line, 'kami matsuru koro', the time of worshipping the gods, ends on a noun and leaves a lingering echo.
Author: Minamoto no Tsunenobu
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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