Sakurabana ima zo sakari to hito wa iedo ware wa sabushi mo kimi to shi araneba

桜花今ぞ盛りと人は言へど
我れは寂しも君としあらねば

Roma-ji: Sakurabana ima zo sakari to hito wa iedo ware wa sabushi mo kimi to shi araneba
English Translation: The cherry blossoms
now are at their very peak,
so the people say—
yet I am lonely, for
I am not together with you.
Meaning: People say the cherry blossoms are now at their height, but I am lonely, for I am not with you.
Commentary: Book Eighteen 4074

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Three poems sent by Ōtomo no Sukune Ikenushi, secretary of Echizen Province." "Thoughts stirred by things around me."
The poet says that though people declare the cherry blossoms at their height, he is lonely because he is not with his friend. Taking the cherry blossoms before him as his occasion, he expresses the loneliness of being apart from Yakamochi, and the contrast between the flowers in their prime and his lonely heart is striking.
Ōtomo no Ikenushi was a member of the Ōtomo clan who served as secretary of Etchū while Yakamochi was governor there, exchanging many poems and letters with him. At this time he had been transferred to the post of secretary of Echizen.
Yakamochi answered this poem with 4077, saying that the cherries at his place are still in bud and asking him to come and see them.

First line, "sakurabana": it begins with the cherry blossoms before him. The heading "thoughts stirred by things" refers to expressing feelings through these blossoms.
Second line, "ima zo sakari to": the emphatic particle "zo" marks the words people say, "now is the height." Yakamochi's reply reverses this with "imada fufumeri," creating a contrast of full bloom and bud.
Third line, "hito wa iedo": "do" is adversative, "though people say." It sets the world against the poet himself.
Fourth line, "ware wa sabushi mo": "sabushi" means lonely or unfulfilled, and "mo" is an exclamatory particle. The poem pauses after the fourth line.
Last line, "kimi to shi araneba": "shi" is emphatic, and "neba," the perfective negative plus "ba," means "because I am not with you." In inverted order, it adds the reason for his loneliness.
Author: Ōtomo no Ikenushi
Source: Manyoshu
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