Seeing them fall,
that should have been all—yet
these plum blossoms,
so vexing, leave their fragrance
lingering on my sleeves.

Meaning

Seeing the blossoms fall should have been the end of it, and yet, vexingly, the plum blossoms leave their fragrance lingering on my sleeves.

Commentary

Spring Songs, Book One

A poem paired in the poetry contest held in the inner court in the reign of Emperor Kanpyō.

Though one would think it enough simply to watch the blossoms fall, this poem strikingly calls the fragrance that lingers on the sleeves “vexing,” as something extra that need not remain. It can also call to mind the lingering scent of one from whom one has parted.

Author

Sosei Hoshi

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Other

Coming and going, I did not let my eyes leave the plum blossoms— at dusk I looked on them, at dawn I looked on them; yet when did they fade away?
If only I could transfer the plum’s fragrance to my sleeves and keep it— though spring should pass at once, it would be a keepsake.
From this year on, first learning what spring is, O cherry blossoms— do not learn this thing they call falling from other trees.
High on the mountain, where people do not come at all, O cherry blossoms— do not grieve too bitterly; I will hasten to praise you.

Seeing them fall, that should have been all—yet these plum blossoms, so vexing, leave their fragrance lingering on my sleeves.

Seeing them fall,
that should have been all—yet
these plum blossoms,
so vexing, leave their fragrance
lingering on my sleeves.