Mutsuki tachi haru no kitaraba kaku shi koso ume o okitsutsu tanoshiki oeme

正月立ち春の来らばかくしこそ
梅を招きつつ楽しき終へめ

Roma-ji: Mutsuki tachi haru no kitaraba kaku shi koso ume o okitsutsu tanoshiki oeme
English Translation: The first month begins,
and when the spring has come to us,
just like this, indeed,
inviting the plum blossoms,
let us have our fill of joy
Meaning: When the new year begins and spring arrives, let us welcome the plum blossoms like this and enjoy ourselves to the full.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 815

Headnote: "Thirty-two poems on plum blossoms, with preface"
The poem says that when the new year comes and spring arrives, we should invite the plum blossoms like this and enjoy ourselves to the full. As the opening poem of the banquet, it proclaims from the chief guest's position the joy of the new spring and the pleasure of the feast, setting the tone for the whole company.
This is one of the thirty-two poems of the Plum Blossom Banquet, held on the thirteenth day of the first month of Tenpyō 2, when officials of Dazaifu and provincial governors of Kyushu gathered at the residence of the Governor-General Ōtomo no Tabito and composed poems on the plum trees in his garden. The Chinese preface describes how, in the auspicious first month of early spring, the air was fine and the breeze gentle, the plums opened white like face powder before a mirror, and the orchids gave off a scent like a perfume sachet; it is also famous as the source of the era name Reiwa. The preface closes by proposing that, just as Chinese poetry has its pieces on falling plum blossoms, the company should compose short poems on the garden plums. The poem is signed "Lord Ki, Senior Assistant Governor-General"; the Senior Assistant was the higher of Dazaifu's deputies.
The poet, Ki no Ohito, was an official of the Ki clan who, as Senior Assistant Governor-General of Dazaifu, held the place of chief guest at the banquet. His Chinese verse survives in the anthology Kaifūsō.

First line, "mutsuki tachi": "the first month begins," announcing the new year.
Second line, "haru no kitaraba": "if spring has come." Poem 833 uses the same phrase, so the opening and later part of the banquet echo each other.
Third line, "kaku shi koso": "just like this," pointing to the feast before them. The particle "koso" is resolved by "me" in the last line.
Fourth line, "ume o okitsutsu": "oku" means to invite; the plum is treated as an honored guest.
Fifth line, "tanoshiki oeme": "let us enjoy to the full," closing with the form "me" that answers "koso."
Author: Ki no Ohito
Source: Manyoshu
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