Ume no hana nani ni niouran miru hito no iro o mo ka o mo wasurenuru yo ni - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

梅の花何ににほふらん見る人の
色をも香をも忘れぬる世に

Roma-ji: Ume no hana nani ni niouran miru hito no iro o mo ka o mo wasurenuru yo ni
English Translation: O plum blossom, why
should you be so bright and sweet
when those who see you
have forgotten both color
and fragrance in this our world?
Meaning: O plum blossoms, for whom do you glow and give your scent, in a world where those who look on you have forgotten both color and fragrance?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1446

Headnote: "On seeing the red plum in the garden in the spring when Jōtōmon'in renounced the world."
This is the sixth and last poem of the sequence on the warbler and the plum. It asks why the plum blossoms glow and give their scent in a world where those who look on them have forgotten both color and fragrance. According to the headnote, it was composed on seeing the red plum in the garden in the spring when Jōtōmon'in took the tonsure.
The author, "Daini no Sanmi," is Fujiwara no Kenshi. The daughter of Fujiwara no Nobutaka and Murasaki Shikibu, she served Jōtōmon'in and became wet nurse to Emperor Go-Reizei. She was granted the Junior Third Rank, and because her husband Takashina no Nariakira became Senior Assistant Governor-General of Dazaifu, she is called by this name.
"Jōtōmon'in" in the headnote is Shōshi, daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga and empress of Emperor Ichijō. She took the tonsure in Manju 3 (1026).

The first line, "ume no hana," sets "ume no hana," placed in the third line in the preceding poems, at the head, closing the sequence on the plum.
The second line, "nani ni niouran," means "for what purpose do you glow and give your scent," with "ran" as the present conjectural. The poem breaks after the second line, and the reason follows in the last lines in inverted order.
The third line, "miru hito no," refers to Jōtōmon'in, who had taken the tonsure, and those who served her.
The fourth line, "iro o mo ka o mo," overlaps with "iroka o ba," the first line of the preceding poem. Along with the color and scent of the blossoms, it implies a heart that has cast off worldly splendor.
The last line, "wasurenuru yo ni," uses "nuru," the attributive form of the perfective "nu," to show that they have already forgotten. The beauty of the red plum is set against a world of renunciation that pays it no heed.
Author: Fujiwara no Kenshi
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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