Ushirometa ikade kaeran yamazakura akanu nioi o kaze ni makasete - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

うしろめたいかで帰らん山桜
あかぬにほひを風にまかせて

Roma-ji: Ushirometa ikade kaeran yamazakura akanu nioi o kaze ni makasete
English Translation: How uneasy I am!
How could I go home and leave,
O mountain cherry,
the beauty I never tire of
at the mercy of the wind?
Meaning: How uneasy I feel! How can I go home, O mountain cherry, leaving your beauty, of which I never tire, at the mercy of the wind?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Spring Poems 1053

Headnote: "Written on a cherry tree in front of the hall at Ishiyama"
The poet says how uneasy he is, and asks how he can go home, leaving the mountain cherry's beauty, of which he never tires, at the mercy of the wind. The headnote shows it was written on a cherry tree in front of the hall of Ishiyama Temple. About to go home after his pilgrimage, he finds it hard to leave, troubled by the wind that may scatter the mountain cherry he never tires of seeing. Following the two preceding poems, it sings of the mountain cherry.

First line, "ushirometa," means "how uneasy," an exclamation using the stem of the adjective "ushirometashi." The poem breaks after this first line.
Second line, "ikade kaeran," means "how can I go home," a rhetorical question. The poem breaks again here.
Third line, "yamazakura," calls out "O mountain cherry," continuing the mountain cherry poems of 1051 and 1052.
Fourth line, "akanu nioi o," means "your beauty I never tire of."
Final line, "kaze ni makasete," means "left to the wind," giving in inverted order the reason for "kaeran" in the second line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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