Ume no hana taori kazashite asobedomo akidaranu hi wa kyō ni shi ari keri

梅の花手折りかざして遊べども
飽き足らぬ日は今日にしありけり

Roma-ji: Ume no hana taori kazashite asobedomo akidaranu hi wa kyō ni shi ari keri
English Translation: Plum blossoms plucked
and worn upon the head in play,
and though we play on,
a day we cannot have enough of —
it is this very day, I find
Meaning: We break off plum blossoms and wear them as we play, yet the day we can never have enough of turns out to be today.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 836

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thirty-two poems on plum blossoms, with preface"
The poet says that though they have plucked plum blossoms and played with them in their hair, today is a day of which they can never have enough. Focusing on this single day, he expresses a pleasure that cannot be exhausted however it is enjoyed.
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 "Yin-yang Master Ki-shi Norimaro"; the yin-yang master was in charge of divination and the calendar.
The poet, Kishi no Norimaro, was an official serving as yin-yang master at Dazaifu. Some take "Ki-shi" to be the Isobe clan.

First line, "ume no hana": the banquet's theme.
Second line, "taori kazashite": plucked by hand and worn in the hair.
Third line, "asobedomo": adversative, the same line as the third of 828.
Fourth line, "akidaranu hi wa": "the day that never satisfies."
Fifth line, "kyō ni shi ari keri": "shi" is emphatic and "keri" an exclamation of discovery: it is today, closing the poem.
Author: Kishi no Norimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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