Ueshi toki hana mimu to shi mo omowanu ni saki chiru mireba yowai oi ni keri - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

植ゑし時花見むとしも思はぬに
咲き散る見れば齢老いにけり

Roma-ji: Ueshi toki hana mimu to shi mo omowanu ni saki chiru mireba yowai oi ni keri
English Translation: When I planted it
I never thought that I would
live to see it bloom;
now, watching it bloom and fall,
I find that I have grown old
Meaning: When I planted it I never imagined I would live to see it flower; yet now, watching it bloom and scatter, I realize how old I have grown.
Commentary: Book Two Spring Poems II 47

Headnote: "Having planted a plum tree after growing old, in the spring of the following year, with something on his mind."
Seeing the plum he planted in old age bloom and scatter the next spring, the poet feels his own age anew. In the plum, planted without any thought that he would live to see it flower, now blooming and falling, he sees the few years left to him.
According to the headnote, he planted the plum after he had grown old and composed this the following spring with something weighing on his mind. More than joy at the blossoms, the poem shows a deepening awareness of age in the sight of flowers that bloom and fall.
The poet, Fujiwara no Sukemoto, was of the Northern House of the Fujiwara and the second son of Fujiwara no Murasugi, governor of Suruga. He rose through the post of Consultant to Major Counselor.

In the first line, "Ueshi toki," "shi" is the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki," looking back to the moment of planting. Recalling the time of planting also links it with "the time they were planted" in 49 of this book. While this opening poem laments old age, the closing poem of the book, 80, encourages one who has grown old, so that the book begins with a poem on aging and ends with consolation for it.
In the second line, "mu" expresses intention and "shimo" is emphatic, strengthening the denial: "never thinking to see the flowers."
In the third line, "omowanu ni" joins the negative "nu" to the adversative "ni," meaning "though I did not think so."
The fourth line, "saki chiru mireba," means "seeing them bloom and then fall," showing that he has witnessed the whole life of the flowers.
In the last line, "keri" expresses a sigh of realization, as the passing of the blossoms makes him see anew how old he has grown.
Author: Fujiwara no Sukemoto
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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