Sakeri tomo shirazu shi araba moda mo aramu kono yamabuki o misetsutsu motona

咲けりとも知らずしあらば黙もあらむ
この山吹を見せつつもとな

Roma-ji: Sakeri tomo shirazu shi araba moda mo aramu kono yamabuki o misetsutsu motona
English Translation: Had I not known that
the flowers were in bloom,
I could have kept still;
yet this yellow kerria
you keep showing me—what cruelty
Meaning: Had I not known they were in bloom, I could have stayed calm—but you keep showing me this kerria, needlessly stirring my heart.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3976

Headnote: "Two tanka"
Had he not known the kerria was in bloom he could have stayed calm, but his friend keeps showing it to him—a playfully reproachful reply to Ikenushi. This is one of two tanka that Yakamochi, lying ill, composed on the fifth day of the third month of 747 in response to Ikenushi's chōka and envoys. Shown in verse the kerria he cannot go to see, he complains, half fondly, that it has only deepened his longing, suggesting the banter of close friends.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of the Major Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito. Appointed Governor of Etchū in 746, he spent five years there, later serving as Junior Counselor and Governor of Inaba before rising to Middle Counselor. He is thought to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū.
The left note reads, "Fifth day of the third month, composed by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi while lying ill."

First line, "sakeri tomo": "that they are blooming," ri being continuative.
Second line, "shirazu shi araba": shi is emphatic, and the irrealis with ba is hypothetical—"if I had not known."
Third line, "moda mo aramu": moda means keeping silent, doing nothing—"I could have stayed calm." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "kono yamabuki o": taking up "the kerria blooms day by day" in Ikenushi's 3974.
Fifth line, "misetsutsu motona": motona means "needlessly"—"you show me them and trouble my heart," trailing off with lingering feeling.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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