Haru goto ni nagekishi mono o nori no niwa wa chiru ga ureshiki hana mo arikeri - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

春ごとに嘆きしものを法の庭は
散るがうれしき花もありけり

Roma-ji: Haru goto ni nagekishi mono o nori no niwa wa chiru ga ureshiki hana mo arikeri
English Translation: With every spring
I have grieved to see them fall,
but in the Law's garden
there are flowers too, I find,
whose falling brings us joy
Meaning: Every spring I have grieved to see the blossoms fall, yet in the garden of the Law there are flowers whose falling brings joy.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Buddhist Poems 1239

Headnote: "Composed on the Introduction chapter of the Lotus Sutra"
This poem was composed on the Introduction chapter of the Lotus Sutra, which tells how, as the Buddha was about to preach the Lotus Sutra, mandārava and other flowers rained down from the heavens. Every spring I grieved, but in the garden of the Law there are flowers whose falling brings joy, he says. Blossoms whose falling is usually mourned are a joy when they rain down on the place of preaching, for they are an auspicious sign of the Buddha, and the poem contrasts the flowers of the world with the flowers of the Law.
The author, "Fujiwara no Koretsuna," was an official and poet of the late Heian period, but the details of his life are not known.
From this poem through 1247 in this book, poems on the chapters of the Lotus Sutra are set out in order from the Introduction chapter to the chapter on Universal Worthy, and this is the first of them. 1246, near the close of the series, answers it by singing of flowers raining down once more in the Universal Worthy chapter.

First line, "haru goto ni": "with every spring."
Second line, "nagekishi mono o": "shi" is the attributive of the past "ki," and "mono o" an adversative conjunctive particle, "though I have grieved at their falling."
Third line, "nori no niwa wa": the place of preaching, the garden of a Buddhist service, here the setting of the Introduction chapter. Like "minori no niwa ni" in the second line of 1248 in this book, it sings of what falls on the garden of the Law.
Fourth line, "chiru ga ureshiki": "whose falling is a joy," the mandārava flowers raining from the heavens.
Fifth line, "hana mo arikeri": "keri" is an exclamatory auxiliary of realization. It shares flowers with "hana zo sakikeru" in the fifth line of the preceding poem, 1238.
Author: Fujiwara no Koretsuna
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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