Sakurabana kyō yoku mitemu kuretake no hitoyo no hodo ni chiri mo koso sure - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

桜花今日よく見てむ呉竹の
ひとよのほどに散りもこそすれ

Roma-ji: Sakurabana kyō yoku mitemu kuretake no hitoyo no hodo ni chiri mo koso sure
English Translation: O cherry blossoms,
let me look well at you today,
for like the bamboo's
single joint, in one short night,
you might scatter all away
Meaning: Let me look well at the cherry blossoms today, for within a single night, as brief as a joint of bamboo, they may all scatter.
Commentary: Book Two Spring Poems II 54

Headnote: "On seeing cherry blossoms blooming among the bamboo in the garden."
Seeing cherries in bloom among the bamboo in his garden, the poet resolves to look well at them today, since they may scatter in a single night. Joining "yo," the joint of bamboo, with "yo," night, he makes witty use of the pairing of bamboo and cherry.
According to the headnote, it was composed on seeing cherry blossoms among the bamboo of the garden plantings.
The poet, Sakanoue no Korenori, is said to be a descendant of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, and rose through posts such as provisional junior secretary of Yamato to vice-governor of Kaga. He was the father of Sakanoue no Mochiki, one of the compilers of the Gosen Wakashū, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

The first line, "Sakurabana," presents the cherry blooming among the bamboo.
In the second line, "temu" expresses firm intention: "let me look well today." The poem pauses here.
The third line, "kuretake no," is a pillow word leading to "yo," the joint of bamboo. It brings the garden bamboo of the headnote straight into the poem. Bamboo also appears in 48 of this book.
In the fourth line, "hitoyo" is a pivot word joining "one joint" of bamboo and "one night." The shortness of a bamboo joint is laid over the shortness of a night.
In the last line, "mo koso" expresses apprehension, "it would be a pity if," forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the perfective "sure." Whereas the preceding poem, 53, gazes calmly, sure the blossoms will not fall, this one fears their falling and resolves to look now, forming a pair.
Author: Sakanoue no Koreyuki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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