Yomoyama ni ko no me harusame furinureba kazoiro wa to ya hana no tanomamu - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

四方山に木の芽はるさめ降りぬれば
かぞいろはとや花の頼まむ

Roma-ji: Yomoyama ni ko no me harusame furinureba kazoiro wa to ya hana no tanomamu
English Translation: On the hills all round
spring rain that swells the buds of trees
has come pouring down:
will the blossoms look to it
as their father and their mother?
Meaning: Spring rain that swells the buds has fallen on the hills all around; will the blossoms look to it as their father and mother?
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems I 31

Headnote: "Composed on the spirit of spring rain when presenting a hundred-poem sequence in the reign of Emperor Horikawa"
Composed on the topic "spring rain" for the Horikawa Hundred-Poem Sequence, this poem sees spring rain falling on the hills all around and swelling the buds, and wonders whether the blossoms soon to open will rely on this rain as their father and mother. The rain that nurtures buds and brings forth flowers is likened to parents raising a child.
The author, "Former Middle Counselor Masafusa," is Ōe no Masafusa, son of Ōe no Narihira. A scholar who served three emperors, Go-Sanjō, Shirakawa and Horikawa, he rose to Provisional Middle Counselor. Famed for his learning, he was one of the poets of the Horikawa Hundred-Poem Sequence.

First line, "yomoyama ni": "on the mountains in every direction."
Second line, "ko no me harusame": "haru" is a pivot word meaning both buds "swelling" and the "spring" of spring rain, joining the swelling of buds and the falling of rain in one phrase.
Third line, "furinureba": "nure" is the perfective form of the completive "nu," and with "ba" it means "since it has fallen." The next poem, 32, is likewise a spring-rain poem from the Horikawa sequence.
Fourth line, "kazoiro wa to ya": "kazoiro" means father and mother. The interrogative "ya" links with "mu" in the last line.
Fifth line, "hana no tanomamu": "mu" is the attributive of the conjectural auxiliary: "will the blossoms rely on it?"
Author: Oe no Masafusa
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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