More than the blossoms,
People have proved more fickle—
So it has become.
Which would I see first to fade,
And then long for in my heart?

Meaning

More than the blossoms, people themselves have proven more fleeting. Who could have thought we would lose a beloved person before the flowers and then long for them?

Commentary

109. People Are More Fickle

A certain man composed this poem and sent it to a friend who had lost his beloved wife.

The poem expresses the thought that he could never have imagined that a beloved person would be lost even before the cherry blossoms scatter.
By placing side by side the death of a person and the scattering blossoms, the poem reveals the impermanence of life in this world.

It is included in the "Laments" section of the Kokinshū as a poem by Ki no Mochiyuki.

Source

Ise Monogatari

Other

When the wind blows on, Is it like a rock always Crossed by rising waves? My sleeves of my robe Have no time at all to dry.
Each evening again In the fields where many frogs Are crying aloud, The water only grows more— Though no rain at all may fall.
My longing so deep, Perhaps my soul has gone forth Out from my own body. If late at night you should see it, Bind my soul and hold it fast.
Long ago perhaps Such a thing may have been said— Only now I know: To love someone unseen yet, One whom I have never met.

More than the blossoms, People have proved more fickle— So it has become. Which would I see first to fade, And then long for in my heart?

More than the blossoms,
People have proved more fickle—
So it has become.
Which would I see first to fade,
And then long for in my heart?