Sakazaramu mono to wa nashi ni sakurabana omokage ni nomi madaki miyuran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

咲かざらむ物とはなしに桜花
面影にのみまだき見ゆらん

Roma-ji: Sakazaramu mono to wa nashi ni sakurabana omokage ni nomi madaki miyuran
English Translation: Though they are not things
that will never come to bloom,
these cherry blossoms,
why, before their time has come,
do they appear but in my mind?
Meaning: Though they are surely going to bloom, why do the cherry blossoms already appear to me, too early, only as images in my mind?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Spring Poems 1036

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet asks why, though they are sure to bloom in time, the cherry blossoms appear only as images in his mind even before they open. In the form of a question, it expresses a longing so impatient for the blossoms that their unseen shape rises in the heart. Following the two preceding poems, it sings of a heart facing blossoms yet to open.
The author, written as "Mitsune," is Ōshikōchi no Mitsune. One of the compilers of the Kokinshū, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "sakazaramu," means "will not bloom," with "zara" the irrealis of the negative "zu" and "mu" conjectural. It shares the same word with the third line of the next poem, 1037, "sakazaramu."
Second line, "mono to wa nashi ni," means "though they are not such things."
Third line, "sakurabana," means "the cherry blossoms."
Fourth line, "omokage ni nomi," means "only as an image in the mind."
Final line, "madaki miyuran," means "why do they appear so early," with "madaki" meaning "before the time has come" and "ran" an auxiliary conjecturing the cause.
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Shui Wakashu
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