Chiru hana wa michi mienu made uzumanan wakaruru hito mo tachi ya tomaru to - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

散る花は道見えぬまでうづまなん
別るる人も立ちや止まると

Roma-ji: Chiru hana wa michi mienu made uzumanan wakaruru hito mo tachi ya tomaru to
English Translation: Falling flowers, oh,
bury the road from my sight
until it is gone,
for perhaps the one who parts
might halt and stay a while.
Meaning: I wish the falling blossoms would bury the road until it can no longer be seen, so that the one who is leaving might stop and stay.
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 303

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poet wishes that the falling blossoms would bury the road until it could no longer be seen, for then the departing person might stop. The unattainable wish to hold back the traveler is entrusted to the falling flowers.

First line, "chiru hana wa," means "the falling cherry blossoms." After the dew-wet cherry of the preceding poem, falling blossoms appear.
Second line, "michi mienu made," means "until the road can no longer be seen."
Third line, "uzumanan," means "I wish they would bury it," with "nan" a particle expressing a wish directed at another. The poem pauses here, and by inversion the reason for the wish is given afterward.
Fourth line, "wakaruru hito mo," means "the one who parts, too."
Final line, "tachi ya tomaru to," means "thinking he might stop," with the particle "ya" expressing doubt. In 322 of this book, parting is sung of as something hard to hold back.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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