Sakurabana niou to mo naku haru kureba nado ka nageki no shigeri nomi suru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

桜花にほふともなく春来れば
などかなげきの茂りのみする

Roma-ji: Sakurabana niou to mo naku haru kureba nado ka nageki no shigeri nomi suru
English Translation: O cherry blossoms,
though you do not bloom for me,
when the spring arrives
why is it that my sorrows
only grow thick as the trees?
Meaning: Though no cherry blossoms bloom in radiance for me, why is it that when spring comes my sorrows only grow thicker, like the trees?
Commentary: Book Two Spring Poems II 55

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
Even when spring comes there is no joy like blossoming flowers in the poet's life, only sorrows that grow ever thicker. Hearing "ki," tree, in "nageki," sorrow, the poem overlays mounting grief on the spring image of trees in leaf.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which is treated here as "anonymous."

The first line, "Sakurabana," names spring's representative flower, standing for joy in the poet's life.
In the second line, "niou" means for flowers to bloom radiantly, so the line means "though there is no such splendor."
The third line, "haru kureba," means "when spring comes" and leads into the sorrow of the fourth line. 62 of this book places the same phrase in its first line.
In the fourth line, "nado ka" asks "why," corresponding to the attributive "suru" of the last line. "Nageki" is a pivot word joining "sorrow" and "nageki," wood for the fire; the same pivot word appears in 65 and 66 of this book.
In the last line, "shigeri," growing thick, is an associated word for the "wood" in "nageki," showing sorrows increasing as trees thicken in spring.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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