Waga yado no hanatachibana wa chirinikeri kuyashiki toki ni aeru kimi ka mo

我が宿の花橘は散りにけり
悔しき時に逢へる君かも

Roma-ji: Waga yado no hanatachibana wa chirinikeri kuyashiki toki ni aeru kimi ka mo
English Translation: At my own dwelling
the blossoms of the orange
have scattered and gone;
at a time full of regret
it is you I come to meet.
Meaning: The tachibana blossoms at my home have already fallen. What a regrettable time for you to come to meet me!
Commentary: Book Ten Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1969

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Flowers"
This poem welcomes a beloved who has come after the tachibana at home has already fallen, saying he came at a regrettable time. The chagrin at not viewing the full bloom together mingles with the joy of meeting all the same. The wish to have shown him the flowers at their peak reveals the heart that had long awaited him.

The first line, "of my dwelling," refers to the speaker's home.
The second line, "the flowering tachibana," marks the theme.
In the third line, "chirinikeri," "keri" expresses exclamatory realization, and the poem breaks here.
The fourth line, "at a regrettable time," describes the timing.
In the last line, "aeru kimi ka mo," "ka mo" is exclamatory, closing with an address full of both regret and joy to the beloved who came late.
Source: Manyoshu
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