Sakisomeshi toki yori nochi wa uchihaete yo wa haru nare ya iro no tsune naru - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

咲きそめし時より後はうちはへて
世は春なれや色の常なる

Roma-ji: Sakisomeshi toki yori nochi wa uchihaete yo wa haru nare ya iro no tsune naru
English Translation: Ever since the time
they first began to blossom,
on and on
is the world forever spring?
Their color never fades.
Meaning: Ever since they first began to bloom, has the world stayed spring all along? Their color never changes.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 931

Headnote: "Composed on flowers in a painting on a screen"
Composed on flowers painted on a screen. Painted flowers never scatter, and their color has not changed since they first bloomed, so the poet asks whether the world within the painting is forever spring. The notion of eternal spring in a picture is typical of Tsurayuki, a master of screen poems.
The author, "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki, son of Ki no Mochiyuki, the leading compiler of the Kokin Wakashū and author of its kana preface. He is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.

First line "sakisomeshi" uses shi, the attributive of the past ki: that began to bloom.
Second line "toki yori nochi wa" means ever since they began to bloom.
Third line "uchihaete" means continuing on and on.
Fourth line "yo wa haru nare ya" is the perfective form with the question ya: is the world spring? It pairs with the last line of the next poem, 932, "aki no ukereba," setting spring against autumn and joy against sorrow.
Fifth line "iro no tsune naru" closes ya with the attributive naru: the flowers' color is ever unchanging.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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