Hana yori mo hito koso ada ni narinikere izure o saki ni koimu to ka mishi - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

花よりも人こそあだになりにけれ
いづれを先に恋ひむとか見し

Roma-ji: Hana yori mo hito koso ada ni narinikere izure o saki ni koimu to ka mishi
English Translation: More than the blossoms,
it is people who have proved
fleeting in the end;
which of these did I believe
I would come to miss the first?
Meaning: It is people, even more than blossoms, who have proved so fleeting. Did I ever imagine which of the two I would be longing for first?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems of Lament 850

Headnote: "Someone had planted a cherry tree, and just when it was about to bloom, the one who planted it passed away; composed on seeing its blossoms"
Someone planted a cherry tree and died just as it was about to bloom; this poem was composed on seeing those blossoms. The poet laments that people have proved more fleeting than flowers, which should be the quickest to fall. It holds both surprise and sorrow, for he never imagined that instead of regretting the scattered blossoms, he would first be longing for a person.
The author, Ki no Mochiyuki, is said to have been the father of Ki no Tsurayuki, but little else is known of him.

The first line, "even more than flowers," names the blossoms that are the very emblem of transience.
The second line, "it is people who are fleeting," uses ada, fragile or fleeting, and koso to stress "people."
The third line, "have become," closes in the realis kere after koso. The poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "which of them first," means which of the two, blossoms or people.
The last line, "did I think I would long for," uses ka as a question.
Author: Ki no Mochiyuki
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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