さくらいろに衣はふかくそめてきむ
花のちりなむのちのかたみに
花のちりなむのちのかたみに
- Roma-ji
-
Sakurairo ni koromo wa fukaku sometekimu
hana no chirinamu nochi no katami ni - English Translation
-
In cherry color I will deeply dye my robes and wear them;
for when the blossoms fall, as a keepsake for what comes after.
- Meaning
- I will dye my robes a deep cherry color and wear them, so that when the blossoms fall, they may serve as a keepsake afterward.
- Commentary
-
Spring Songs, Book One
Out of affection for the cherry blossoms, the poet dyes his robes cherry-colored and wears them, intending them to become a keepsake by which to remember the fallen blossoms.
- Author
- Ki no Arimasa
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- Once they have fallen, though one yearns, there is no avail; So today, if I am to pluck the cherry blossoms, let me pluck them.
- If I were to pluck them, would it not be too painful, these cherry blossoms? Come, let me lodge here and watch them until they fall.
- Those who come to my dwelling to view the blossoms in passing— when the blossoms fall, will they then be missed?
- Where no one comes to see them, mountain-village cherry blossoms— let them bloom only after the others have fallen.