Akazarishi hana o ya haru mo koitsuran arishi mukashi o omoiidetsutsu

English Translation

Blossoms never seen
enough—did the spring as well
long for them, I wonder,
calling to mind the days
of the past that are no more?

Meaning

Did spring, too, long for the blossoms of which no one could ever see enough, recalling the days of the past that are gone?

Commentary

Book Eight Lament Poems 761

Headnote: "Reply."
This is the third poem of the sequence on partings by death in spring, a reply to the preceding poem. It asks whether spring, too, longed for the blossoms of which no one could see enough, recalling the past. The headnote says "Reply," answering Sanekata's poem before it.
The son of Chancellor Fujiwara no Tamemitsu, the author became Middle Captain of the Left Inner Palace Guards but died young in Shōryaku 5 (994). He is one of the Thirty-Six Later Poetic Immortals.
The scene is the same spring of imperial mourning in Shōryaku 2 (991) as the preceding poem, set in the capital.
The direct occasion is the reply to the poem sent by Lord Sanekata in the preceding poem.

The first line, "akazarishi," means "never seen enough." "Shi" is a past auxiliary, looking back on the blossoms of days gone by.
In the second line, "hana o ya haru mo," "hana" takes up "hanazakari" from the preceding poem. "Ya" is an interrogative binding particle, completed by "ran" in the third line. With "haru mo," the poem asks whether not only people but the season of spring itself longs for the blossoms.
The third line, "koitsuran," means "did it long for them?" "Tsu" marks completion and "ran" conjecture; taking up "ya" in the second line, it closes the clause, and the poem pauses after the third line.
The fourth line, "arishi mukashi o," means "the days of the past that are gone." It contrasts with the present "uki yo," the sorrowful world, of the preceding poem.
The last line, "omoiidetsutsu," means "while recalling." Through inversion, the poem can be read as spring bringing forth its blossoms while recalling the past. Where the preceding poem told of breaking a branch in forgetfulness of the season, the reply receives the sender's feeling by saying that spring, too, longs for the blossoms and remembers former days.

Author

Fujiwara no Michinobu

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other