Ume no hana itsu wa oraji to itowanedo saki no sakari wa oshiki mono nari

梅の花いつは折らじといとはねど
咲きの盛りは惜しきものなり

Roma-ji: Ume no hana itsu wa oraji to itowanedo saki no sakari wa oshiki mono nari
English Translation: These blossoms of plum—
it's not that I would refuse
ever to break them,
but when they are at their peak
I find them too dear to pluck
Meaning: It is not that I object to breaking a spray of plum blossoms at any time—but when they are in full bloom, they are too precious to pick.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3904

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Six new poems in belated response to the plum-blossom poems of the Dazaifu days"
Not that one should never break the plum, yet at full bloom it is a pity to pluck it—a poem of tender regret for the flowers. This is one of six poems that Ōtomo no Fumimochi composed on the ninth day of the twelfth month of 740, written in response to the thirty-two poems of the plum-blossom banquet held at Tabito's residence in Dazaifu in the first month of 730 (Book Five, 815 to 846). Ten years had passed, and his father Tabito, host of that banquet, was already dead; a longing for the banquet of old runs beneath the series. Taking for granted the banquet custom of breaking sprays to wear, it expresses regret for flowers at their peak in a gently reasoning turn of phrase.
The poet, Ōtomo no Fumimochi, was a son of Ōtomo no Tabito and the younger brother of Yakamochi. He died young in 746.
The left note reads, "The above were composed by Ōtomo no Sukune Fumimochi on the ninth day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year."

First line, "ume no hana": the theme repeated through the six, here presented as something to be broken off.
Second line, "itsu wa oraji to": "that at such a time I will not break them," with ji an auxiliary of negative intention.
Third line, "itowanedo": itou means to dislike or avoid; "though I do not refuse," running on adversatively.
Fourth line, "saki no sakari wa": "when they are in full bloom," wa marking a contrast with other times.
Fifth line, "oshiki mono nari": nari is assertive—"they are precious indeed." The next poem, 3905, sings of the pleasure of breaking and wearing the flowers, forming a pair with the reluctance to pluck them here.
Author: Ōtomo no Fumimochi
Source: Manyoshu
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