君が代にあふべき春の多ければ
散るとも桜あくまでぞ見ん
散るとも桜あくまでぞ見ん
- Roma-ji
-
Kimi ga yo ni aubeki haru no ōkereba chiru tomo sakura akumade zo min
- English Translation
-
In my lord's long reign
the springs that we are to meet
are many, and so,
though they scatter, cherry blooms
I will gaze on to my fill.
- Meaning
- Since the springs we are to meet in my lord's reign are many, I will gaze upon the cherry blossoms to my heart's content, even though they scatter.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Felicitation Poems 713
Headnote: "On cherry blossoms, at the residence of Princess Yūshi."
This poem celebrates the lord's reign through cherry blossoms. Since the springs to be met in the lord's reign are many, the speaker resolves to gaze on the blossoms to the full even as they scatter. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic of cherry blossoms at the residence of Princess Yūshi.
The author is Minamoto no Morofusa, a son of Prince Tomohira. He became the adopted son of Fujiwara no Yorimichi and rose to Minister of the Right.
The scene is spring, from the height of the cherry blossoms to their scattering, and the place is the residence of Princess Yūshi.
The direct occasion is a composition on the topic "Cherry Blossoms" at the residence of Princess Yūshi. Princess Yūshi was a daughter of Emperor Go-Suzaku.
The first line, "kimi ga yo ni," means "in my lord's reign." The length of the reign of the one being celebrated is taken as given.
The second line, "aubeki haru no," means "of the springs we are to meet," with "beki" expressing natural expectation. It looks ahead to the many springs yet to come.
The third line, "ōkereba," means "since they are many," with "ba" attached to the realis form expressing cause. The abundance of springs becomes the reason for "akumade zo min" in the last line.
The fourth line, "chiru tomo sakura," means "even though they scatter, the cherry blossoms," with "tomo" expressing a concessive supposition. The convention of lamenting falling blossoms is overturned by the abundance of springs in the lord's reign.
In the last line, "akumade zo min," the emphatic particle "zo" is concluded by the attributive form of the volitional "n" in kakari-musubi. Following the gathering of young greens in 711 in this book, the poem lays the length of the lord's reign over the cherry blossoms, a scene of spring.
- Author
- Minamoto no Morofusa
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- Where young greens spring up, every field that's called a field, all for my dear lord, roping off for ten thousand ages, I will pick the greens, I think.
- The sacred cord sash— as it's hung, a thousand years on the rugged hills the color of mountain indigo has not changed in the least.
- On Suminoe's shore, upon the fine sand of the beach, the cranes that tread there are leaving long-lasting tracks behind them, so it seems.
- Year after year bamboo springs up, joint on joint, through the passing ages— this color that never changes, whose could I take it to be?