Each time the warbler
sang in the fields,
I went to see;
upon the fading blossoms,
the wind was blowing still.

Meaning

Drawn each time by the warbler’s song in the fields, I went to see, only to find the blossoms already fading, with the wind blowing upon them.

Commentary

Book II, Spring Poems (Part Two)

Led by the warbler’s song, the poet goes out to the fields and finds the blossoms already beginning to fall, with the wind urging them on.

It suggests that it is no wonder the warbler sings in lament, seeing the blossoms scatter.

Author

Unknown Poet

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Other

Though distant lie the springtime hills veiled in rising haze, the wind that comes to me bears the scent of blossoms.
Seeing the blossoms, even my heart has changed its hue; yet I shall not show it in my face, lest others come to know.
Blame, with your cry, the wind that blows— O warbler; for have I so much as laid a hand upon the blossoms?
If falling blossoms could be stayed by weeping, then surely I would not yield to the warbler’s cry.

Each time the warbler sang in the fields, I went to see; upon the fading blossoms, the wind was blowing still.

Each time the warbler
sang in the fields,
I went to see;
upon the fading blossoms,
the wind was blowing still.