Haru o hete miyuki ni naruru hana no kage furiyuku mi o mo aware to ya omou - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

春を経てみゆきに馴るる花の陰
ふりゆく身をもあはれとや思ふ

Roma-ji: Haru o hete miyuki ni naruru hana no kage furiyuku mi o mo aware to ya omou
English Translation: Through many springs grown
used to royal progresses,
shade of the blossoms—
for me, too, growing old like snowfall,
do you feel some tenderness?
Meaning: O shade of the blossoms, grown used over many springs to royal progresses and deep snows of petals—do you feel pity, too, for me, growing old as the petals fall?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1455

Headnote: "Composed when the courtiers went to view the blossoms at the palace, after I had served many years in the Palace Guards."
This is the fifth poem of the sequence on the cherry. The poet asks the palace blossoms, long used to royal progresses, whether they feel pity for him too as he grows old. According to the headnote, it was composed when the courtiers of the privy chamber went to view the blossoms at the palace, after he had spent many years as an officer of the Palace Guards.
The author, "Fujiwara no Teika Ason," was the son of Fujiwara no Shunzei. He was one of the compilers of the Shin Kokinshū and later compiled the Shin Chokusenshū alone. He remained long in the same posts as Lesser and Middle Captain of the Palace Guards.
"The men of the privy chamber" in the headnote are the courtiers serving in the palace, and "the great palace" refers to the imperial palace.

The first line, "haru o hete," means "having passed many springs." The years the blossoms have seen overlap with the years the poet spent in the Palace Guards.
In the second line, "miyuki ni naruru," "miyuki" plays on "miyuki," an imperial outing, and "miyuki," deep snow. It inherits the same wordplay on "miyuki" from the two preceding poems.
The third line, "hana no kage," refers to the shade beneath the blossoming tree. The poem breaks after the third line, taking the form of an address to the blossoms.
In the fourth line, "furiyuku mi o mo," "furiyuku" plays on "furiyuku," to grow old, and "furiyuku," for snow to fall, making it an associated word with "miyuki."
The last line, "aware to ya omou," closes the kakari-musubi of the particle "ya" with the attributive form "omou." It asks the blossoms, which have long seen royal progresses, to feel for the poet who has likewise grown old.
Author: Fujiwara no Teika
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Edagoto no sue made niou hana nareba chiru mo miyuki to miyuru naruran
Next Poem: Narenarete mishi wa nagori no haru zo to mo nado shirakawa no hana no shitakage