Though blossoms that bloom
are of many kinds,
all are but fleeting,
who is there that can utterly
resent the coming of spring?

Meaning

Though the blossoms that bloom are many and all are fleeting and fickle, who could ever truly resent the spring that brings them forth?

Commentary

Book II, Spring Poems (Part Two)

A poem paired in a poetry contest at the imperial court during the Kanpyō era.

Though the flowers of spring bloom in many kinds and quickly fade, stirring feelings of regret and unrest, still everyone looks forward to the coming of spring that brings them into bloom.

Author

Fujiwara no Okikaze

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Other

If one could command the wind that blows as it will, then I would say: pass by this single tree, and leave it untouched.
The one I awaited does not come—so, for that reason, the blossom where the warbler perched I have broken off.
Spring haze appears in many varied hues— it must be so, because the blossoms’ colors show through the veiled mountains.
Though distant lie the springtime hills veiled in rising haze, the wind that comes to me bears the scent of blossoms.

Though blossoms that bloom are of many kinds, all are but fleeting, who is there that can utterly resent the coming of spring?

Though blossoms that bloom
are of many kinds,
all are but fleeting,
who is there that can utterly
resent the coming of spring?