見る人もなき山ざとのさくら花
ほかのちりなむのちぞさかまし
ほかのちりなむのちぞさかまし
- Roma-ji
-
Miru hito mo naki yamazato no sakurabana
hoka no chirinamu nochi zo sakamashi - English Translation
-
Where no one comes to see them, mountain-village cherry blossoms—
let them bloom only after the others have fallen.
- Meaning
- As for the cherry blossoms of a mountain village where there is no one to see them, I wish they would bloom only after the other blossoms have fallen.
- Commentary
-
Spring Songs, Book One
A poem composed for the Poetry Contest at Teiji-in, but not selected.
The poet wishes for late-blooming cherry blossoms, expressing the desire to enjoy the sight of cherry blossoms for as long as possible.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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- In cherry color I will deeply dye my robes and wear them; for when the blossoms fall, as a keepsake for what comes after.
- Those who come to my dwelling to view the blossoms in passing— when the blossoms fall, will they then be missed?
- Like the pale young purple of Kasuga Plain, a robe rubbed with dye—my hidden thoughts are tangled beyond all measure.
- In Michinoku, the shinobu-rubbed pattern— for whose sake did it begin to tangle? It was not I who did so.