Tanomoshiki chikai wa haru ni aranedomo karenishi eda mo hana zo sakikeru - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

頼もしき誓ひは春にあらねども
枯れにし枝も花ぞ咲きける

Roma-ji: Tanomoshiki chikai wa haru ni aranedomo karenishi eda mo hana zo sakikeru
English Translation: That trusty vow
is not the spring, and yet
even on a branch
that had withered long ago
the flowers have come to bloom
Meaning: Kannon's trustworthy vow is not the spring, and yet even on a branch long withered, flowers have come into bloom.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Buddhist Poems 1238

Headnote: "Composed thinking of Kannon's vow"
He composed this thinking of Kannon's vow. The trustworthy vow is not the spring, yet even a withered branch has bloomed, he says. Kannon's vow is said to save anyone who calls upon it. He sings with trust of the power of that vow, which can make a dead tree bloom though it is not spring, as a mercy that saves even one beyond saving.
The author, "Former Major Counselor Tokitada," is Taira no Tokitada. A son of Taira no Tokinobu and a younger brother of Tokiko, wife of Taira no Kiyomori, he rose to provisional major counselor but was exiled to Noto after the fall of the Taira.
1216 in this book also sings of Kannon's vow; where that poem likens the vow to a sea a thousand fathoms deep, this one likens it to a spring that brings a withered tree into bloom. It shares flowers with the next poem, 1239, this poem singing of blossoms opening and that one of blossoms falling.

First line, "tanomoshiki": "trustworthy, heartening."
Second line, "chikai wa haru ni": "chikai" is Kannon's vow to save beings, and spring is the season that brings flowers. Like "chikai o ba" in the first line of 1216 in this book, it sings of Kannon's vow.
Third line, "aranedomo": "though it is not."
Fourth line, "karenishi eda mo": "ni" is perfective and "shi" the attributive of the past "ki," "even a branch that had withered," standing for one beyond saving.
Fifth line, "hana zo sakikeru": "zo," an emphatic binding particle, closes with "keru," the attributive of the exclamatory "keri." It shares flowers with "hana mo arikeri" in the fifth line of the next poem, 1239, setting blossoms opening beside blossoms falling.
Author: Taira no Tokitada
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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