Shimogare ni miekoshi ume wa sakinikeri haru ni wa waga mi awamu to wa su ya - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

霜枯れに見えこし梅は咲きにけり
春には我が身逢はむとはすや

Roma-ji: Shimogare ni miekoshi ume wa sakinikeri haru ni wa waga mi awamu to wa su ya
English Translation: The plum that seemed
all withered by the frost
has burst into bloom;
will this body of mine as well
not come to meet with spring?
Meaning: The plum tree that looked withered by the frost has burst into bloom; will I too not meet with spring?
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Autumn Poems 1155

Headnote: "Around the end of the twelfth month, lamenting his circumstances"
The poet says that the plum, which seemed withered by the frost, has already bloomed to greet spring, but wonders whether he himself will ever meet with spring. The headnote shows it was composed around the end of the twelfth month, lamenting his own circumstances. Setting the plum that blooms to greet spring against himself, to whom no spring of good fortune comes, he grieves at his lack of advancement.
With 1156 and 1157 that follow, poems on plum blossoms and spring at the year's end continue, and together with 1157 and the closing poem, 1158, Tsurayuki's laments for himself at the year's end stand side by side.
The author, written as "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki, the leading compiler of the Kokinshū, who wrote its kana preface and the Tosa Diary. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "shimogare ni," means "as if frost-withered," sharing the same word with the third line of the preceding poem, 1154, "shimogare no."
Second line, "miekoshi ume wa," means "the plum that had seemed," with "ko" from "kuru," to come, and "shi" the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki."
Third line, "sakinikeri," means "has bloomed," with "keri" a sigh of realization. The poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "haru ni wa waga mi," means "in spring, I myself."
Final line, "awamu to wa su ya," means "will I try to meet it," with "ya" a questioning particle, expressing doubt whether a spring of good fortune will come round to him too.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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