Ume no hana orikazashitsutsu morobito no asobu o mireba miyako shi zo omou

梅の花折りかざしつつ諸人の
遊ぶを見れば都しぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Ume no hana orikazashitsutsu morobito no asobu o mireba miyako shi zo omou
English Translation: Plum blossoms broken
and worn upon their heads, when I
see all these people
in the midst of their delight,
it is the capital I think of
Meaning: Watching everyone at play with plum blossoms in their hair, it is the capital that comes to my mind.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 843

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thirty-two poems on plum blossoms, with preface"
The poet says that watching the company play with plum blossoms in their hair brings the capital to mind. The splendor of the feast recalls the spring pleasures of the capital, and he voices the homesickness of officials in distant Tsukushi.
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 "Haji-shi Mimichi," with no office given.
The poet, Haji no Mimichi, was of the Haji clan; his office is not recorded.

First line, "ume no hana": the banquet's theme.
Second line, "orikazashitsutsu": the same line as the second of 828.
Third line, "morobito no": as in 832, the people gathered at the feast.
Fourth line, "asobu o mireba": "when I see them at play," the seeing that turns his heart to the capital.
Fifth line, "miyako shi zo omou": "shi" is emphatic and "zo" is resolved by "omou." It slips homesickness into the joy of the banquet, adding a shadow to the sequence.
Author: Haji no Mimichi
Source: Manyoshu
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