雉鳴く高円の辺に桜花
散りて流らふ見む人もがも
散りて流らふ見む人もがも
- Roma-ji
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Kigishi naku takamato no he ni sakurabana chirite nagarau mimu hito mo ga mo
- English Translation
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Where the pheasants call
all around Takamato,
the cherry blossoms
scatter and go drifting by—
if only someone could see!
- Meaning
- Near Takamato, where the pheasants call, the cherry blossoms scatter and drift along. If only there were someone to see them with me.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1866
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Flowers"
This poem wishes someone could see the cherry blossoms scattering and drifting over the fields of Takamato, where pheasants call. The incompleteness of seeing the beauty of falling cherry alone becomes the wish "mimu hito mo ga mo." Like "if only I had a girl to show" in 1851, it seeks someone to share a beautiful scene with, and it shares the feeling of "with no one to see" in 1863.
The first line, "where pheasants call," vividly sets the scene with the voice of a bird of the spring fields.
In the second line, "around Takamato," Takamato is a district southeast of the Nara capital, the fields at the foot of Mount Takamato.
The third line, "cherry blossoms," names the flower that has become the leading one of the group.
In the fourth line, "chirite nagarau," "nagarau" means to go on drifting, with "fu" marking continuation, and the poem breaks here.
In the last line, "mimu hito mo ga mo," "mo ga mo" is a particle of wishing, closing with the hope that someone might see this scene.
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Uchinabiku haru sarikurashi yama no ma no tōki konure no sakiyuku mireba
- Next Poem
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Aboyama no sakura no hana wa kyō mo ka mo chirimagauramu miru hito nashi ni