Matsu ni yori chiranu kokoro o yamazakura sakinaba hana no omoishiranan

待つにより散らぬ心を山桜
咲きなば花の思ひ知らなん

Roma-ji: Matsu ni yori chiranu kokoro o yamazakura sakinaba hana no omoishiranan
English Translation: Through my waiting long,
this heart that will never scatter,
O mountain cherry,
once you have come into bloom,
may you know it well, I pray.
Meaning: O mountain cherry, once you bloom, may you come to know this heart of mine, which, through all my waiting, has never scattered elsewhere.
Commentary: Spring Poems 56

Headnote: "Waiting for the blossoms, forgetting all else"
The topic is waiting for the blossoms and forgetting all else, and here the cherry blossom poems begin. The poet calls to the mountain cherry, asking it to understand, once it blooms, a heart that has waited single-mindedly and never let itself scatter to anything else.
The ingenuity lies in setting a heart that does not scatter face to face with the cherry, whose nature is to scatter. Reversing the usual grief over falling blossoms, the poet declares that his own heart does not scatter, expressing his single-minded devotion.

First line, “matsu ni yori”: through waiting for the blossoms.
Second line, “chiranu kokoro o”: a heart that does not scatter to other things; chiru is a word associated with cherry blossoms.
Third line, “yamazakura”: an address to the mountain cherry.
Fourth line, “sakinaba hana no”: once you have bloomed, you, the flowers.
Fifth line, “omoishiranan”: nan expresses a wish addressed to another, may you come to know it, closing with a plea to the cherry.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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