咲きし時猶こそ見しか桃の花
散れば惜しくぞ思ひなりぬる
散れば惜しくぞ思ひなりぬる
- Roma-ji
-
Sakishi toki nao koso mishika momo no hana chireba oshiku zo omoinarinuru
- English Translation
-
While they were blooming,
I looked on them as nothing much,
these peach tree blossoms;
but now that they are falling,
I have come to hold them dear.
- Meaning
- While they bloomed I looked at them without much thought, these peach blossoms; but now that they fall, I have come to find them precious.
- Commentary
-
Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Spring Poems 1030
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that the peach blossoms, looked at without much thought while they bloomed, have come to seem precious now that they are falling. It frankly expresses the heart's movement toward passing things, realizing their worth only as they are about to be lost.
First line, "sakishi toki," means "when they bloomed," with "shi" the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki."
Second line, "nao koso mishika," means "I looked on them casually, but," with the binding particle "koso" resolved by "shika," the perfective form of the past auxiliary "ki," running on with a concession.
Third line, "momo no hana," means "O peach blossoms."
Fourth line, "chireba oshiku zo," means "now they fall, how precious," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by the attributive form "nuru" in the final line.
Final line, "omoinarinuru," means "I have come to feel," with "nuru" the attributive form of the perfective auxiliary "nu." It contrasts the past of "mishika" in the second line with the present feeling of the final line.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Hiku hito mo nashi to omoishi azusayumi ima zo ureshiki moroya shitsureba
- Next Poem
-
Yamazato no iei wa kasumi kometaredo kakine no yanagi sue wa to ni miyu