Haru wa tada hana no hitoe ni saku bakari mono no aware wa aki zo masareru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

春はただ花のひとへに咲くばかり
物のあはれは秋ぞまされる

Roma-ji: Haru wa tada hana no hitoe ni saku bakari mono no aware wa aki zo masareru
English Translation: Spring is merely this:
blossoms in their single layers
bloom and nothing more;
for the deep pathos of things,
autumn is the greater one.
Meaning: Spring is nothing more than blossoms blooming wholeheartedly in single layers; for the deep, quiet pathos of things, autumn is the greater.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 511

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that spring is merely blossoms blooming wholeheartedly, while in the deep, quiet feeling of things autumn is superior. Against a spring of mere bright blossoms, the poet finds a depth that touches the heart in autumn and declares it the greater. Where the two preceding poems, 509 and 510, could not choose between spring and autumn, this poem plainly gives the prize to autumn, bringing the three poems on the merits of the seasons to a close.

First line, "haru wa tada," means "spring is merely," with "tada" answering "bakari" in the third line to limit spring to blossoms alone.
Second line, "hana no hitoe ni," is a pivot word: "hitoe" means "single-layered" petals and also "hitoe ni," "wholeheartedly."
Third line, "saku bakari," means "only bloom," and the poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "mono no aware wa," means "the deep pathos of things," set against the brightness of spring in the upper verse.
Final line, "aki zo masareru," means "autumn is the greater," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by "ru," the attributive form of the auxiliary "ri." It firmly declares superior the autumn toward which Toshiko leaned in the preceding poem, 510.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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