Haru fukami ide no kawanami tachikaeri mite koso yukame yamabuki no hana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

春深み井手の川波立ち返り
見てこそ行かめ山吹の花

Roma-ji: Haru fukami ide no kawanami tachikaeri mite koso yukame yamabuki no hana
English Translation: Spring has grown so deep
that like Ide's river waves
returning again,
I will look before I go
upon the kerria flowers.
Meaning: Now that spring has grown deep, like the river waves of Ide that surge and return, I will turn back again and again to look at the kerria blossoms before I go.
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems 68

Headnote: "For a poetry contest in the reign of Tenryaku"
In the village of Ide in deep spring, the poet resolves to turn back again and again to look at the kerria flowers before going on, just as the river waves surge and return. Ide was famous for kerria, and the pairing of river waves and yellow blossoms is lovely. According to the headnote, the poem was submitted to a poetry contest in the Tenryaku era of Emperor Murakami.
The author, written as Minamoto Shitagau, is Minamoto no Shitagō. Of the Saga Genji line, he took part in compiling the Gosenshū as one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber and compiled the dictionary Wamyō Ruijushō. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "haru fukami," with the suffix "mi" expressing cause, means "because spring is deep." Taking up "haru fukaku" in poem 63 of this book, it moves on to late-spring scenery.
Second line, "ide no kawanami," is the waves of the Tama River flowing through Ide, a famous place in Yamashiro, forming a preface that leads to "tachikaeri" in the third line.
Third line, "tachikaeri," overlays waves rising and returning with turning back again and again.
Fourth line, "mite koso yukame," uses "koso" with the perfective "me," strengthening the resolve to look before going.
Final line, "yamabuki no hana," ends on a noun, and from here the kerria poems follow.
Author: Minamoto no Shitagō
Source: Shui Wakashu
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