Ima ikuka haru shi nakereba uguisu mo mono wa nagamete omou beranari - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今いくか春しなければうぐひすも
ものはながめて思ふべらなり

Roma-ji: Ima ikuka haru shi nakereba uguisu mo mono wa nagamete omou beranari
English Translation: How many days now?
Since spring is nearly over,
even the warbler
seems to gaze in reverie,
lost in its brooding thoughts.
Meaning: Only a few days of spring remain, and so even the warbler seems to gaze absently, lost in melancholy thought.
Commentary: Book Ten Names of Things 428

Headnote: "Plum blossoms of the sumomo"
This poem says that with only a few days of spring left, even the warbler seems to gaze in brooding thought. The title "sumomo no hana" (Japanese plum blossoms) is hidden in "uguisu mo mono wa na" across the third and fourth lines. It entrusts to the warbler the sorrow of the passing spring, and in singing of the warbler it echoes the first poem of the book, 422.
The poet, "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. A son of Ki no Mochiyuki, he was the leading compiler of the Kokinshu and wrote its Kana Preface. He is also known as the author of the Tosa Diary.

First line "Ima ikuka" means "how many more days," showing that little of spring remains.
Second line "haru shi nakereba" uses the emphatic particle "shi," giving the reason: spring is nearly gone.
Third line "uguisu mo" means "even the warbler, not only people," and the title "sumomo" begins here.
Fourth line "mono wa nagamete" means "gazing in reverie." Together with the third line, it hides the title "sumomo no hana."
Fifth line "omou beranari" uses "beranari," meaning "it seems," an expression common in early Heian poetry and especially favored by Tsurayuki.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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