Inishie ni kawarazarikeri yamazakura hana wa ware o ba ikaga miruran - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いにしへに変はらざりけり山桜
花は我をばいかが見るらん

Roma-ji: Inishie ni kawarazarikeri yamazakura hana wa ware o ba ikaga miruran
English Translation: It has not changed at all
from the way it was of old,
this mountain cherry;
and the blossoms, I wonder,
how must they now look on me?
Meaning: The mountain cherries have not changed at all from days of old. And the blossoms, how must they see me, now that I have changed?
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1055

Headnote: "Composed on seeing the fine blossoms of Enjōji when I went flower viewing in the Eastern Hills after taking the tonsure"
After he had taken the tonsure, he went flower viewing in the Eastern Hills, and on seeing the splendid blossoms of Enjōji he composed this poem. The mountain cherries have not changed from of old; how must the blossoms see me, he says. The flowers bloom as they always have, but the man who views them has shaved his head and changed into a monk's form. Taking the flowers' point of view, he imagines how his changed self must look to them, quietly expressing the feelings of one who has left the world.
The author, "Former Middle Counselor Motonaga," is Fujiwara no Motonaga. A son of Fujiwara no Yoshinaga, he rose to provisional middle counselor and later took the tonsure.

First line, "inishie ni": "compared with days of old."
Second line, "kawarazarikeri": "keri" is exclamatory, "it has not changed from the past." The poem pauses here. It forms a pair with "mukashi ni kawaru" in the fourth line of 1065 of this book, over whether things change from the past or not.
Third line, "yamazakura": the mountain cherries blooming at Enjōji. 1072 of this book also places "yamazakura" in its first line.
Fourth line, "hana wa ware o ba": "o ba" strengthens the object particle "o," and the point of view turns to the flowers looking at the poet.
Fifth line, "ikaga miruran": "ran" is the auxiliary of present conjecture, "how must they see me?"
Author: Fujiwara no Motonaga
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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