さくら花とくちりぬともおもほえず
人の心ぞ風も吹きあへぬ
人の心ぞ風も吹きあへぬ
- Roma-ji
-
Sakurabana toku chirinu tomo omooezu
hito no kokoro zo kaze mo fukiaenu - English Translation
-
Cherry blossoms—
it does not seem they fall
so very swiftly;
it is the human heart
that changes before the wind has even blown through.
- Meaning
- Cherry blossoms do not seem to fall so very quickly; it is rather the human heart that changes even before the wind has fully blown.
- Commentary
-
Book II, Spring Poems (Part Two)
This poem was composed in response to someone saying that nothing falls as quickly as cherry blossoms.
Even the fleeting blossoms fall only when stirred by the wind, yet the human heart changes before the wind has even finished blowing—thus emphasizing how changeable the human heart is.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Goto naraba sakazu ya wa aranu sakurabana
miru ware sae ni shizugokoro nashi - Next Poem
-
Hisakata no hikari nodokeki haru no hi ni
shizugokoro naku hana no chiruramu