Kore ya kono ukiyo no hoka no haru naran hana no toboso no akebono no sora - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

これやこの憂き世のほかの春ならん
花のとぼそのあけぼのの空

Roma-ji: Kore ya kono ukiyo no hoka no haru naran hana no toboso no akebono no sora
English Translation: Is this, then, the one—
beyond this sorrowful world,
is this spring itself?
The blossom's door swings open
to the sky at break of dawn.
Meaning: Is this, then, the spring beyond the sorrowful world? The door of the lotus opens on the sky at dawn.
Commentary: Book Twenty Buddhist Poems 1938

Headnote: "The Pleasure of the Lotus First Opening."
This is the second poem in the sequence on the Ten Pleasures of paradise. Seeing the dawn sky as the door of the lotus opens, the poet marvels that this must be the spring beyond the sorrowful world. The headnote gives as its topic the Pleasure of the Lotus First Opening, one of the Ten Pleasures.
It portrays, as a spring sky at dawn, the joy of one reborn in paradise when the lotus first opens and the Buddha is seen.
No author is named in the text; continuing from the preceding poem, this is a poem by Jakuren Hōshi, whose lay name was Fujiwara no Sadanaga. A nephew of Fujiwara no Shunzei, he became Shunzei's adopted son. After taking vows he remained active as a poet and was appointed a compiler of the Shin Kokinshū, but died before its completion.
The Pleasure of the Lotus First Opening is the joy of one reborn in paradise, born within a lotus flower, when that flower first opens to reveal the Buddha and the splendor of the Pure Land.

The first line, "kore ya kono," is an expression of wonder at what lies before one: "so this is the one."
The second line, "ukiyo no hoka no," points to the world outside the sorrowful world, that is, paradise. Taking up the preceding poem's "sweeping away this sad world," the scene moves beyond the world that has been swept away.
The third line, "haru naran," closes the kakari-musubi of "ya" with the attributive "n," and the poem breaks after it.
The fourth line, "hana no toboso no," likens the lotus to a door, seeing the opening of the lotus as the opening of a door.
In the last line, "akebono no sora," "ake" is a pivot word joining the night "breaking" and the door "opening." Ending on a noun, it shows the first morning in paradise.
Author: Jakuren
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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