Kinō yori ochi o ba shirazu momotose no haru no hajime wa kyō ni zo arikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

昨日よりをちをば知らず百年の
春の始めは今日にぞありける

Roma-ji: Kinō yori ochi o ba shirazu momotose no haru no hajime wa kyō ni zo arikeru
English Translation: Of the days before
yesterday, I nothing know;
a hundred years of spring
take their beginning, I find,
on this very day of days.
Meaning: Of the distant days before yesterday I know nothing; the beginning of a spring that will last a hundred years is this very day.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Congratulatory Poems 1159

Headnote: "For the Empress's screen, in the fifth month of Engi 2: New Year's Day"
The poet says that he knows nothing of the distant days before yesterday, but the beginning of a spring that will last a hundred years is this very day. The headnote shows it was written for the New Year's Day scene on a screen made for the Empress in the fifth month of Engi 2. Calling New Year's Day the start of a spring that will run on for a hundred years, it celebrates long life and prosperity.
This book of the miscellaneous section centers on congratulatory poems: its first half gathers poems celebrating long life and the growth of children, and after a group of linked verses, its latter half holds poems of love and of exchanges between people. Where this opening poem celebrates the beginning of a hundred-year spring on New Year's Day, the closing poem, 1209, laments not knowing whether one who has left the world for the priesthood is alive or dead, so the book opens with the start of celebration and closes with grief for one who has left the world.
The author, Ki no Tsurayuki, was the leading compiler of the Kokinshū, wrote its kana preface and the Tosa Diary. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "kinō yori," means "from yesterday," and together with "ochi" in the second line it points to the time before yesterday. It pairs with "kyō," today, in the final line.
Second line, "ochi o ba shirazu," means "of the distant past I know nothing," with "ochi" meaning a far place or a far time. The poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "momotose no," means "of a hundred years," words that celebrate long life. It shares with the fourth line of the next poem, 1160, "yukusue tōku," the celebration of a long future.
Fourth line, "haru no hajime wa," means "the beginning of spring," speaking of New Year's Day and layering the start of the year with the start of spring.
Final line, "kyō ni zo arikeru," means "is this very day," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by "keru," the attributive form of the past auxiliary "keri," which expresses a sigh of realization.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Mubatama no waga kurokami ni toshi kurete kagami no kage ni fureru shirayuki
Next Poem: Harubaru to kumoi o sashite yuku fune no yukusue tōku omōyuru kana