[25] なにし (Nanishi)

 Poem Meaning and Background

"Sanekazura" by 川童みつ枝

なにしおわば・あふさかやまの・さねかずら
na ni shi owaba・ Osaka-yama no・ Sanekazura

ひとにしられで・くるよしもがな

hito ni shirarede・ kuru yoshi mo gana

〜三条右大臣（Sanjō Udaijin)

Translation

If your name is true,

Trailing vine of "Meeting Hill",

Isn't there some way,

Hidden from people's gaze,

That you can draw her to my side?

Meaning

    The author of this poem seems to be talking to a secret lover through this poem. It was said that he sent this poem to the woman accompanied with a bit of sanekazura, a vine with bright red fruit (pictured above). The poem expresses the author's strong desire to meet his lover, along with the pain of being unable to do so. 

    There are multiple instances of words with double meanings in this poem. "Osaka-yama" is also known as "meeting hill" (逢ふ＝会う), where lovers would meet. "Sanekazura" is the name of a vine while 小寝 (sane) also means "sleep together". "Kuru" can mean both 来る"to come", a word often used by poets to talk about lovers meeting, or 繰る"to wind", describing how the vine curls as it grows. 

Author

A depiction of the author and
his poem by the artist Agameishi

Fujiwara no Sadakata (873-932) was known as Sanjō Udaijin for his position of "Minister of the Right of Sanjō". His cousin and son-in-law was Fujiwara no Kanesuke, author of [27] Mikano, and his son Asatada was author of [44] Ooko.