Ume no hana ima sakeru goto chirisugizu wagae no sono ni arikosenu kamo

梅の花今咲けるごと散り過ぎず
我が家の園にありこせぬかも

Roma-ji: Ume no hana ima sakeru goto chirisugizu wagae no sono ni arikosenu kamo
English Translation: O plum blossoms,
just as you are blooming now,
never falling, fading,
in the garden of my house
would that you might always stay
Meaning: Plum blossoms, just as you bloom now, without scattering and fading, would that you might remain in my garden forever.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 816

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thirty-two poems on plum blossoms, with preface"
The poet asks the plum blossoms to stay in his garden forever as they bloom now, without scattering. Praising the splendor of the host's plums, it expresses a wish to hold on to beauty at its height.
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 "Ono, Junior Assistant Governor-General"; the Junior Assistant ranked below the Senior, and the title daibu honored officials of the fifth rank and above.
The poet, Ono no Oyu, was an official of the Ono clan serving at this time as Junior Assistant Governor-General of Dazaifu. He later rose to Senior Assistant and died in Tenpyō 9.

First line, "ume no hana": a call to the plum, the theme of the banquet; many of its poems open with this phrase.
Second line, "ima sakeru goto": "as you bloom now," pointing to the blossoms at their height.
Third line, "chirisugizu": "without scattering and passing," leading into the next line.
Fourth line, "wagae no sono ni": "in my own garden," or perhaps the host's garden where the banquet is held.
Fifth line, "arikosenu kamo": "kose" is from "kosu," "do for me," and "nu kamo" expresses a wish: won't you stay for me?
Author: Ono no Oyu
Source: Manyoshu
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