Takasago no onoe no sakura sakinureba kozue ni kakuru okitsu shiranami - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

高砂の尾上の桜咲きぬれば
梢にかくる沖つ白波

Roma-ji: Takasago no onoe no sakura sakinureba kozue ni kakuru okitsu shiranami
English Translation: At Takasago,
now the cherries on the peak
have come into bloom,
upon the treetops break
white waves of the offing
Meaning: Now that the cherries on the peak at Takasago have bloomed, it is as though the white waves of the open sea were breaking upon the treetops.
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems I 68

Headnote: "Composed as a poem on blossoms"
Composed on the topic "blossoms," this poem says that when the cherries bloom on the peak at Takasago, a seaside poetic place, their white flowers look as though white waves from the offing were breaking over the treetops. Making use of the coastal place name, it likens mountain cherries to ocean waves and joins mountain and sea in a single scene.
The author, "Kamo no Nariyasu," was a poet of the Kamo clan, which served the Kamo Shrines.

First line, "Takasago no": a seaside poetic place in Harima, famed for its pines.
Second line, "onoe no sakura": "onoe" is the top of a peak.
Third line, "sakinureba": "nure" is the perfective of the completive "nu," and with "ba" it means "since they have bloomed."
Fourth line, "kozue ni kakuru": "hanging on the treetops," likening the blossoms to waves breaking up over the branches.
Fifth line, "okitsu shiranami": ending on a noun, it repeats the last line of 8 in this book. Where 8 depicted real white waves on the sea, this poem sees cherries as white waves. It also echoes "hana no shiranami" in 65.
Author: Kamo no Nariyasu
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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