Kaze ni shimo nani ka makasen sakurabana nioi akanu ni chiru wa ukariki - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

風にしも何かまかせん桜花
匂ひ飽かぬに散るは憂かりき

Roma-ji: Kaze ni shimo nani ka makasen sakurabana nioi akanu ni chiru wa ukariki
English Translation: To the wind of all
things, why would I leave them,
O cherry blossoms?
before I'd had my fill of beauty,
your falling brought such pain
Meaning: Why would I ever leave the cherry blossoms to the wind? When they fell before I had my fill of their beauty, how it pained me.
Commentary: Book Three Spring Poems III 106

Headnote: "Reply."
To the preceding poem, which said the cherry would now be left to the wind, he replies: how could he leave them to the wind, when their falling before he had his fill was so painful? The falling flowers can be read as overlaid with grief for the one who died.
It forms an exchange with the preceding poem, 105.
The poet, called "Lord Atsutada," is Fujiwara no Atsutada. The third son of Fujiwara no Tokihira, he rose to Provisional Middle Counselor. He also excelled at music and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

In the first line, "shimo" is emphatic: "to the wind, of all things."
In the second line, "ka" is a rhetorical particle forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "n": "why would I leave them to it? I would not," turning back "kaze ni makasemu" of the preceding poem, 105. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "sakurabana," is placed third as in the preceding poem, giving the exchange a matching form.
In the fourth line, "nioi" is the radiance of color, and "akanu ni" means "before I had my fill."
In the last line, "ki" is the past auxiliary, looking back on a pain once felt. The sorrow of falling flowers is overlaid with grief for one who was lost.
Author: Fujiwara no Atsutada
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Ima yori wa kaze ni makasemu sakurabana chiru ko no moto ni kimi tomarikeri
Next Poem: Tsune yori mo harube ni nareba Sakuragawa hana no nami koso manaku yosurame