Ima wa ware Yoshino no yama no hana o koso yado no mono to mo miru bekarikere - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今は我吉野の山の花をこそ
宿の物とも見るべかりけれ

Roma-ji: Ima wa ware Yoshino no yama no hana o koso yado no mono to mo miru bekarikere
English Translation: Now it is I who
should have looked upon the blossoms
of Yoshino's hills
as the very flowers
belonging to my own dwelling.
Meaning: Now that I have left the world, it is the blossoms of the Yoshino hills that I should look upon as those of my own dwelling.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1466

Headnote: "Composed as a poem on blossoms when I composed a hundred-poem sequence after renouncing the world."
This is the sixteenth poem of the sequence on the cherry. Now that he has taken the tonsure, the poet says, it is the blossoms of the Yoshino hills that he should regard as those of his own dwelling. According to the headnote, it was composed as a poem on blossoms in a hundred-poem sequence written after he renounced the world.
The author, "Master of the Empress Dowager's Household Shunzei," is Fujiwara no Shunzei. He was the son of Fujiwara no Toshitada and the father of Teika. He served as Master of the Empress Dowager's Household and took the tonsure in Angen 2 (1176). He compiled the Senzai Wakashū.
Mount Yoshino is a famous place in Yamato province, known for its cherry blossoms and also regarded as a place where those who had renounced the world lived in seclusion.

The first line, "ima wa ware," refers to the poet as he is now, having taken the tonsure. It opens in contrast with his former life in the world.
The second line, "Yoshino no yama no," presents Mount Yoshino, famous for cherries and a place of retreat.
In the third line, "hana o koso," "koso" is a binding particle, closed by "kere" in the last line. It singles out and stresses the blossoms of Yoshino.
The fourth line, "yado no mono to mo," means "as belonging to my own dwelling." For one who has left the world, the blossoms of the Yoshino hills become the blossoms of his own dwelling.
The last line, "miru bekarikere," closes the kakari-musubi of the particle "koso" with the perfective form "kere." "Bekarikere" expresses a new realization: "I should have looked upon them so." Following the preceding poem, which sought the Pure Land in the west, this poem finds in the blossoms of Yoshino the place where a renunciant should dwell.
Author: Fujiwara no Shunzei
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Oshimedomo tsune naranu yo no hana nareba ima wa kono mi o nishi ni motomen
Next Poem: Haru kureba nao kono yo koso shinobarure itsu ka wa kakaru hana o miru beki