吹く風にこぞの桜は散らずとも
あな頼みがた人の心は
あな頼みがた人の心は
- Roma-ji
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Fuku kaze ni kozo no sakura wa chirazu tomo
ana tanomigata hito no kokoro wa - English Translation
-
Though in the blowing wind
Last year’s cherry blossoms
Should not fall at all—
Ah, how hard to rely on
The heart of a person.
- Meaning
- Even if, in the blowing wind, last year’s cherry blossoms were not to fall at all, still the heart of a person is far more difficult to rely upon.
- Commentary
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50. If Birds’ Eggs Were Piled
There was a certain man. He resented a woman who reproached him, saying that he was unfaithful.
The man and woman composed poems, each blaming the other.
This poem is the man’s reply to the woman’s poem: “Morning dew may yet remain without vanishing—such it might well be; but who in this fleeting world could rely on anyone?”
It expresses the thought that even a miracle such as cherry blossoms continuing to bloom without falling is scarcely imaginable, yet the heart of a woman is still more uncertain and cannot be trusted.
- Source
- Ise Monogatari
- Other
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- If birds’ eggs were piled, Ten upon ten, layered high— Even were it so, Would one love a person who Does not think of him at all?
- Morning dew may yet Remain without vanishing— Such it might well be; But who in this fleeting world Could rely on anyone?
- More fleeting even Than to trace a count in Water flowing on— Is to love a person who Does not think of one at all.
- Flowing water on, Passing years of mortal life, And the falling flowers— Which of these has ever heard The word that bids it to wait?