Yamazato ni chiri namashikaba sakurabana niou sakari mo shirarezaramashi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

山里に散りなましかば桜花
にほふ盛りも知られざらまし

Roma-ji: Yamazato ni chiri namashikaba sakurabana niou sakari mo shirarezaramashi
English Translation: In a mountain village
if you had only scattered,
O cherry blossoms,
the height of all your splendor
no one would ever have known
Meaning: Had you scattered unseen in the mountain village, O cherry blossoms, no one would ever have known the radiant height of your bloom.
Commentary: Book Two Spring Poems II 68

Headnote: "When the Emon Miyasudokoro's house was at Uzumasa, hearing that the blossoms there were lovely, he sent someone to break off a branch, and wrote to her."
Hearing that the cherries at the Emon Miyasudokoro's house in Uzumasa were splendid, the poet sent a messenger to break off a branch, adding that had they scattered in the mountain village, their glory would never have been known. With wit, he explains his request as a way of making known to the world the beauty of flowers that would otherwise fall unseen.
According to the headnote, when the Emon Miyasudokoro lived at Uzumasa, he sent someone to break off the blossoms there, which were said to be lovely, and addressed this poem to her. The next poem is her reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet, Fujiwara no Morotada, was the fifth son of Fujiwara no Tadahira. He rose to Minister of the Left and was called the Koichijō Minister of the Left.

The first line, "Yamazato ni," presents Uzumasa, away from the capital, as a mountain village.
In the second line, "mashikaba" is a counterfactual condition, "if they had scattered," corresponding to "mashi" in the last line.
The third line, "sakurabana," names the cherries at the Emon Miyasudokoro's house.
In the fourth line, "niou" means for flowers to bloom radiantly: "the height of their splendor, too." The next poem, 69, answers with "nioi koki," deep in fragrance.
In the last line, "mashi" is counterfactual: "it would never have been known."
Author: Fujiwara no Morotada
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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