Nazo mo kaku koiji ni tachite ayamegusa amari nagabiku satsuki naruramu - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

なぞもかくこひぢに立ちてあやめ草
あまり長引く五月なるらむ

Roma-ji: Nazo mo kaku koiji ni tachite ayamegusa amari nagabiku satsuki naruramu
English Translation: Why should it be so:
standing on this muddy path of love,
like the iris roots,
does the fifth month drag along
for far too long a while
Meaning: Why is it that, standing on the muddy path of love, I find the fifth month drawn out far too long, like the long roots of the iris?
Commentary: Book Seven Love Poems I 389

Laying the fifth month of a year with an intercalary month over the long roots of the iris standing in mud, the poet laments why the fifth month drags on so long for one standing on the path of love. A heart weary of waiting for the day of meeting is entrusted to the lengthening month.
Some manuscripts name Tachibana no Suemichi as the author and give the headnote 'Composed when, in a year with an intercalary fifth month, he was courting someone who said, wait until the second fifth month has passed.' It would then be a poem on being put off until after the second fifth month.
The opening poem, 350, also sings of koiji and ayamegusa, answering this poem.

First line, 'nazo mo kaku', means why is it so, answering ramu in the final line. It is the same as the first line of poem 410 in this book.
Second line, 'koiji ni tachite', is a pivot word in which koiji means both koiji, the path of love, and koiji, mud, left in kana. It is the same pivot word as the fourth line 'kakaru koiji ni' of the opening poem, 350.
Third line, 'ayamegusa', is the iris, a seasonal image of the fifth month. Growing in mud with long roots, it leads into nagabiku, drawn out, in the fourth line.
Fourth line, 'amari nagabiku', means drawn out far too long, echoing the pulling of long iris roots.
Final line, 'satsuki naruramu', means is it the fifth month, using the present conjecture ramu. It rests on a year in which an intercalary month made the fifth month come twice.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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