Haru saraba awamu to omoishi ume no hana kyō no asobi ni aimitsuru kamo

春さらば逢はむと思ひし梅の花
今日の遊びに相見つるかも

Roma-ji: Haru saraba awamu to omoishi ume no hana kyō no asobi ni aimitsuru kamo
English Translation: When spring comes, I thought,
then at last we two shall meet,
O blossoms of plum —
and at today's festivity
we have looked upon each other
Meaning: Plum blossoms I had hoped to meet when spring arrived, I have met you at today's festivities.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 835

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thirty-two poems on plum blossoms, with preface"
The poet rejoices that he has met, at today's feast, the plum blossoms he longed to see when spring came. Treating the plum like a lover, he frankly expresses his joy at a long-awaited reunion.
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 "Physician Kō-shi Gitsū"; whether "Kō" stands for the Takaoka, Takahashi, or another clan is unsettled.
The poet, Kōshi no Gitsū, was an official serving as a physician at Dazaifu.

First line, "haru saraba": "when spring comes."
Second line, "awamu to omoishi": "I thought we would meet," casting the plum as a lover.
Third line, "ume no hana": placed as the one long awaited.
Fourth line, "kyō no asobi ni": "asobi" means the pleasures of a banquet or music.
Fifth line, "aimitsuru kamo": "we have seen each other," with the exclamation "kamo." With the next poem's "it was this very day," it voices joy in this particular day.
Author: Kōshi no Gitsū
Source: Manyoshu
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