Waga seko ni aga kouraku wa okuyama no ashibi no hana no ima sakari nari

我が背子に我が恋ふらくは奥山の
馬酔木の花の今盛りなり

Roma-ji: Waga seko ni aga kouraku wa okuyama no ashibi no hana no ima sakari nari
English Translation: For my dearest one
the love I bear in my heart—
in the deep mountains
like the ashibi blossoms
now it is at its full height.
Meaning: The love I feel for you is like the ashibi blossoms deep in the mountains—now at the height of their bloom.
Commentary: Book Ten Spring Love Poems 1903

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through Flowers"
This poem likens the speaker's love for her beloved to ashibi blossoms at their peak in the deep mountains. Onto ashibi blooming quietly in full in remote mountains unseen by others, it overlays a love that is not shown outwardly but overflows within the heart. Following the Yoshino ashibi of 1868, the ashibi blossom is here used as a figure for love at its height.

The first line, "waga seko ni," uses a word women used for a lover or husband, showing that the speaker is a woman.
In the second line, "aga kouraku wa," "kouraku" is the nominalized form of "kou": my loving.
The third line, "of the deep mountains," names remote mountains, hinting at a love hidden from others' eyes.
The fourth line, "the ashibi blossoms," is the object of comparison, showing white flowers blooming in full clusters.
The last line, "ima sakari nari," now at its peak, closes by asserting love's height through the flowers' full bloom.
Source: Manyoshu
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