Sakurabana miru ni mo kanashi nakanaka ni kotoshi no haru wa sakazu zo aramashi - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

桜花見るにも悲しなかなかに
今年の春は咲かずぞあらまし

Roma-ji: Sakurabana miru ni mo kanashi nakanaka ni kotoshi no haru wa sakazu zo aramashi
English Translation: Cherry blossoms
only bring me sorrow to see:
better far it were
that in the spring of this year
you had never bloomed
Meaning: Even to look at the cherry blossoms is sorrowful. Better by far if this spring they had not bloomed at all.
Commentary: Book Nine Poems of Lament 552

Headnote: "Composed on seeing the blossoms of the late Emperor Ichijō's palace in the year after he passed away"
Composed on seeing the cherry blossoms at Retired Emperor Ichijō's palace in the year after his death. Even to look at the blossoms is sad, the poet says; better if this spring they had not bloomed. The lovely blossoms only remind him of the late emperor's absence, so it would have been better had they not bloomed, a paradox that shows the depth of his grief. Emperor Ichijō died in 1011.
The author, "Minamoto no Michinari," was the son of Minamoto no Katakuni. A provincial governor who served as Governor of Chikuzen among other posts, he also excelled in Chinese verse. He is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals of the Middle Ages.
A Kokin Wakashū poem by Kamitsuke no Mineo, mourning the dead, calls on the cherries of the Fukakusa fields to bloom in ink-black mourning colors this year alone if they have a heart; this poem likewise turns to the cherry in mourning.

First line, "sakurabana": the cherry blossoms at the late emperor's palace. The opening poem, 545, laments that the scattered flowers have bloomed again, while this poem wishes they had not bloomed.
Second line, "miru ni mo kanashi": "sad even to look at," and the poem pauses here.
Third line, "nakanaka ni": "rather," "better instead."
Fourth line, "kotoshi no haru wa": the spring of the year after the emperor's death.
Fifth line, "sakazu zo aramashi": the emphatic "zo" closes with the attributive of the counterfactual "mashi," "it would have been better not to bloom."
Author: Minamoto no Michinari
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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