Ume no hana orite kazashi ni sashitsureba koromo ni otsuru yuki ka to zo miru - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

梅の花折りてかざしに挿しつれば
衣に落つる雪かとぞ見る

Roma-ji: Ume no hana orite kazashi ni sashitsureba koromo ni otsuru yuki ka to zo miru
English Translation: Breaking off a spray
of blossoms from the plum,
I wore them in my hair,
and as they fell upon my robe
I took them for snow
Meaning: I broke off a spray of plum blossoms and wore it in my hair, and as the petals fell upon my robe I took them for falling snow.
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems I 21

Headnote: "Composed when presenting a hundred-poem sequence to Retired Emperor Sutoku"
Composed for a hundred-poem sequence presented to Retired Emperor Sutoku, this poem says that when the poet wears a spray of plum blossoms in his hair, the petals drifting onto his robe look like falling snow. Likening white plum petals to snow, he finds within spring a beauty like a lingering trace of winter.
The author, "the Ōimikado Minister of the Right," is Fujiwara no Kinyoshi, son of Minister of the Left Fujiwara no Saneyoshi, who rose to Minister of the Right. Known as the Ōimikado Minister of the Right, he was the father of Tokudaiji Sanesada.

First line, "ume no hana": names the subject at the outset.
Second line, "orite kazashi ni": "kazashi" is a flower or sprig worn in the hair or cap.
Third line, "sashitsureba": "tsure" is the perfective form of the completive "tsu," and with "ba" it means "when I had put it in."
Fourth line, "koromo ni otsuru": the petals falling from the hair onto the robe.
Fifth line, "yuki ka to zo miru": "zo" closes with the attributive "miru." Where 17 in this book saw snow on plum branches as blossoms, this poem sees plum blossoms as snow, a pair in which the comparison is reversed.
Author: Fujiwara no Kinyoshi
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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