Haru kureba chirinishi hana mo sakinikeri aware wakare no kakaramashikaba - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

春来れば散りにし花も咲きにけり
あはれ別れのかからましかば

Roma-ji: Haru kureba chirinishi hana mo sakinikeri aware wakare no kakaramashikaba
English Translation: When the spring returns,
even the flowers that scattered
have bloomed once again:
ah, if only our partings
were like this as well
Meaning: Now that spring has come, even the flowers that scattered have bloomed once more. Ah, if only the partings of people could be like this too.
Commentary: Book Nine Poems of Lament 545

Headnote: "Sent to Major Counselor Kintō: at the height of the blossoms I went to Iwakura with Fujiwara no Tameyori and others, and Middle Captain Nobukata said, 'Why did you not tell me? Next time I shall surely come,' but that year both the Middle Captain and Tameyori died, and the following year I saw those blossoms"
At the height of the blossoms the poet went to Iwakura, north of the capital, with Fujiwara no Tameyori and others, and Middle Captain Minamoto no Nobukata sent word asking why he had not been told and promising to come without fail next time. That same year, however, both Nobukata and Tameyori died, and the following year, seeing the same blossoms, the poet sent this poem to Fujiwara no Kintō. When spring comes, even the scattered flowers bloom again, he says; ah, if only parting were like this. Contrasting flowers that bloom anew each year with people who never return, he grieves for those who viewed the blossoms with him and for the one who promised to come next time. Tameyori and Nobukata both died in 998.
The author, "Prince Tomohira, Minister of Central Affairs," was the seventh son of Emperor Murakami. He served as Minister of Central Affairs and was called the Later Chūsho Prince. He excelled in poetry and learning and was a close friend of Fujiwara no Kintō.
This poem opens the book of laments. The final poem, 605, is by the Monk En'i, Saigyō, who lost his friend Saijū, with whom he had gazed at the moon, so that the opening and closing of the book answer each other, both mourning friends with whom one shared the pleasures of nature. The next poem, 546, is Kintō's reply.

First line, "haru kureba": "kure" is the perfective form, and with "ba" it gives a fixed condition, "when spring comes." It is answered by "yukikaeri haru ya" in the next poem, 546, through the returning spring.
Second line, "chirinishi hana mo": "ni" is the continuative of the perfective "nu" and "shi" the attributive of the past "ki," "even the flowers that scattered last year." The scattered flowers are overlaid with the people who died.
Third line, "sakinikeri": "keri" expresses realization, "they have bloomed again." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "aware wakare no": "aware" is an interjection, "ah." "Wakare" is the parting by death from Tameyori and Nobukata. The next poem, 546, takes up this "aware" in "haru ya aware to."
Fifth line, "kakaramashikaba": "kakara" is a contraction of "kaku ara," "to be like this." "Mashika," the irrealis of the counterfactual "mashi," with "ba" means "if only it were so," leaving unsaid "how good it would be" and letting the feeling linger.
Author: Prince Tomohira
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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