花のごと世のつねならばすぐしてし
昔は又もかへりきなまし
昔は又もかへりきなまし
- Roma-ji
-
Hana no goto yo no tsune naraba sugushiteshi
mukashi wa mata mo kaeri kinamashi - English Translation
-
If, like the blossoms,
the world were ever constant,
as they return each year,
then even what has passed away
might come again once more.
- Meaning
- If this world were as constant as the blossoms that return each year, then even the past that has gone might come back once again.
- Commentary
-
Book II, Spring Poems (Part Two)
Though blossoms seem fleeting as they fall, they bloom again each year in the same way. Reflecting on this, the poet suggests that what appears enduring in human life is in fact more transient, and that human existence itself may be the more fleeting and impermanent.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Haru goto ni hana no sakari wa arinamedo
aimimu koto wa inochi narikeri - Next Poem
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Fuku kaze ni atsuraetsukuru mono naraba
kono hitomoto wa yogi yo to iwamashi