Fukakusa no nobe no sakura shi kokoro araba kotoshi bakari wa sumizome ni sake - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

深草の野辺の桜し心あらば
今年ばかりは墨染に咲け

Roma-ji: Fukakusa no nobe no sakura shi kokoro araba kotoshi bakari wa sumizome ni sake
English Translation: Cherry of the fields
of Fukakusa, if you
have a heart at all,
this year, if no other year,
bloom in the gray of mourning.
Meaning: Cherry blossoms on the fields of Fukakusa, if you have a heart, then this year at least, bloom in the ink-black color of mourning.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems of Lament 832

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed after the Horikawa Chancellor passed away and was laid to rest in the hills of Fukakusa"
This poem was composed after Fujiwara no Mototsune was buried at Fukakusa. The poet calls upon the bright cherry blossoms to bloom, this year alone, in the ink-black of mourning if they have a heart. Asking even nature to mourn the dead, it is one of the best-known laments in the Kokinshū.
Because of this poem, the place name Sumizome remains in Fukakusa in Kyoto, and the legend arose of the Sumizome cherry that came to bloom in pale ink-gray flowers.
The author, Kamitsukeno no Mineo, is otherwise unknown; this is his only poem in the Kokinshū.

The first line, "of Fukakusa," names the burial place and picks up "hill of Fukakusa" in the fourth line of the preceding poem, joining the two with the same place name.
The second line, "cherry of the fields," uses the emphatic particle shi to single out the cherry as it is addressed. "Fields" also carries the sense of a place of burial.
The third line, "if you have a heart," is a supposition that personifies the cherry.
The fourth line, "this year alone," uses bakari to limit the wish: this year, at least.
The last line, "bloom in ink-black," names the dark color of mourning clothes, and the imperative sake makes a strong plea. Like "let at least smoke rise" in the preceding poem, it ends in the imperative, and the two poems answer each other.
Author: Kamitsukeno no Mineo
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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