桜花露に濡れたる顔見れば
泣きて別れし人ぞ恋しき
泣きて別れし人ぞ恋しき
- Roma-ji
-
Sakurabana tsuyu ni nuretaru kao mireba nakite wakareshi hito zo koishiki
- English Translation
-
When I see the face
of the cherry blossoms wet
with the morning dew,
I long for the one I left
as we parted in tears.
- Meaning
- When I see the cherry blossoms wet with dew like a face, I long for the one from whom I parted in tears.
- Commentary
-
Book Six Parting Poems 302
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem overlays the cherry blossoms wet with dew with the tear-wet face of the one who parted, and longs for that person. Through the conceit of the blossom's "face," it shows the heart moving from a natural scene to the memory of parting.
First line, "sakurabana," means cherry blossoms. Following the spring haze of the preceding poem, poems that sing of parting through spring things stand together. The next poem, 303, also sings of falling blossoms.
Second line, "tsuyu ni nuretaru," means "wet with dew," with "taru" an auxiliary of continuing state. The dew stands for tears.
Third line, "kao mireba," likens the blossoms to a face, meaning "when I see it."
Fourth line, "nakite wakareshi," means "who parted in tears," with "shi" the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki." It answers the dew of the second line.
Final line, "hito zo koishiki," means "I long for that person," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "koishiki."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Chiru hana wa michi mienu made uzumanan wakaruru hito mo tachi ya tomaru to