Kinō mishi hana no kao tote kesa mireba nete koso sara ni iro masarikere - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

昨日見し花の顔とて今朝見れば
寝てこそさらに色まさりけれ

Roma-ji: Kinō mishi hana no kao tote kesa mireba nete koso sara ni iro masarikere
English Translation: Thinking it the face
of the flowers seen yesterday,
I look this morning,
and after a night of sleep
its color is lovelier still
Meaning: Looking this morning at what I thought was the same flower-face I saw yesterday, I find that after a night's sleep its color is lovelier still.
Commentary: Book Three Spring Poems III 128

Headnote: "While they were playing the koto and flute and talking, the night grew late, and so the guest stayed over."
Looking the next morning at the wisteria he had seen the day before, the poet finds its color lovelier after a night's sleep. Likening the wisteria to a person's face, he conveys through the flowers' color the deeper intimacy born of spending the night.
According to the headnote, while they played the koto and flute and talked, the night grew late, and he stayed over. The three poems from 128 to 130 form a sequence exchanged the morning after Sadakata stayed the night, when the same banquet as in the three preceding poems had continued late into the night.
The poet, called "the Sanjō Minister of the Right," is Fujiwara no Sadakata. A son of Fujiwara no Takafuji, he rose to Minister of the Right and was so called because his residence was at Sanjō. He was a cousin of Fujiwara no Kanesuke, and the two were patrons of Ki no Tsurayuki and other poets.

In the first line, "shi" is the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki," pointing to the wisteria seen at yesterday's banquet.
The second line, "hana no kao tote," likens the wisteria to a person's face: "thinking it the flower-face I saw yesterday." 96 of this book also has the phrase "hana no omote."
The third line, "kesa mireba," means "looking this morning," after the night has passed.
In the fourth line, "koso" forms a kakarimusubi pattern with the perfective "kere" in the last line, stressing "precisely because of a night's sleep."
In the last line, "masaru" means to increase, showing the color has grown lovelier. The next poem, 129, replies by taking up the night's sleep and the wisteria's color.
Author: Fujiwara no Sadakata
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Sao sasedo fukasa mo shiranu fuchi nareba iro o ba hito mo shiraji to zo omou
Next Poem: Hitoyo nomi neteshi kaeraba fuji no hana kokoro toketaru iro misen ya wa