If in this world
there were no cherry blossoms at all,
how utterly so—
the heart of spring would then be
so calm and untroubled.
- Meaning
- If there were no cherry blossoms at all in this world, then spring’s heart would be calm and untroubled, without the restless pain of their scattering.
- Commentary
-
Spring Songs, Book One
Composed on seeing the cherry blossoms at the Nagisa Estate of .
When spring comes, one longs for the cherry blossoms to bloom, and once they bloom, one’s heart is pained by the rain and wind that scatter them. The poet sings of a heart that melts into the scenes of spring.
- Author
- Ariwara no Narihira
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- Mountain cherry trees— I have come on purpose to see; spring haze rises, on the peaks and on the slopes, standing thick, concealing them.
- As years pass, my age indeed has grown old— such change there is; yet when I look on blossoms, there are no troubled thoughts.
- Would that there were no rushing, stone-splashing stream— O cherry blossoms, I would pluck you and come back for the one who has not seen.
- Can I only look and speak of it to others, O cherry blossoms? I will pluck you in my hand and take you home as gift.