Sakurabana iro wa hitoshiki eda naredo katami ni mireba nagusamanaku ni - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

桜花色は等しき枝なれど
形見に見れば慰まなくに

Roma-ji: Sakurabana iro wa hitoshiki eda naredo katami ni mireba nagusamanaku ni
English Translation: O cherry blossoms,
your color is the same, though
on a severed bough;
seen as a keepsake of you,
they bring no comfort to me
Meaning: These cherry blossoms are just as lovely on the branch you sent, yet when I look at them as a keepsake of you, they bring me no comfort.
Commentary: Book Two Spring Poems II 51

Headnote: "When a friend broke off some lovely cherry blossoms and sent them."
A friend has sent a splendid branch of cherry, and the poet replies that though the blossoms' color is the same as on the tree, seen as a keepsake of the absent friend they bring no consolation. While delighting in the flowers, the poet voices the loneliness of not meeting the sender.
According to the headnote, it was composed when a friend broke off beautiful cherry blossoms and sent them. The next poem is Ise's reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Sakurabana," presents the branch sent by the friend.
The second line, "iro wa hitoshiki," means the blossoms on the cut branch are no different in color from those on the tree.
In the third line, "do" is adversative, "though it is a branch of the same color," leading into the lament of the lower verses.
In the fourth line, "katami" is a keepsake that recalls someone absent, so the poet sees the branch as a memento of the sender. The next poem, 52, takes up the word "katami" in its reply.
In the last line, "naku ni" is a negative tinged with a sigh: "they do not console me."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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