Ume no hana sakitaru sono no aoyagi o kazura ni shitsutsu asobi kurasana

梅の花咲きたる園の青柳を
蘰にしつつ遊び暮らさな

Roma-ji: Ume no hana sakitaru sono no aoyagi o kazura ni shitsutsu asobi kurasana
English Translation: Where plum blossoms
have opened in the garden,
the green willow boughs
let us weave into garlands
and spend the whole day in play
Meaning: In this garden where the plums are in bloom, let us weave the green willows into garlands and spend the whole day at play.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 825

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thirty-two poems on plum blossoms, with preface"
The poet invites the company to weave the willows of the plum garden into garlands and play all day. Using almost exactly the upper lines of 817, he answers its question, "haven't they grown long enough for garlands?" with "let us make garlands and play."
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 "Junior Inspector To-shi Momomura"; "To" renders the Haji clan name in a single character.
The poet, Haji no Momomura, was an official of the Haji clan serving at the time as Junior Inspector of Dazaifu.

First line, "ume no hana": the banquet's theme.
Second line, "sakitaru sono no": identical to the second line of 817, showing that this poem continues from it.
Third line, "aoyagi o": changes the "wa" of 817's "aoyagi wa" to "o," moving on to the act of taking up the willow.
Fourth line, "kazura ni shitsutsu": "weaving them into garlands," carrying out what 817 proposed with "fit to be made into garlands."
Fifth line, "asobi kurasana": "na" invites: let us spend the day in pleasure, closing with a call to the company.
Author: Haji no Momomura
Source: Manyoshu
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