Sora ni idete izuku tomo naku tazunureba kumo to wa hana no miyuru narikeri

空に出でていづくともなく尋ぬれば
雲とは花の見ゆるなりけり

Roma-ji: Sora ni idete izuku tomo naku tazunureba kumo to wa hana no miyuru narikeri
English Translation: Heart adrift, I left,
seeking blossoms aimlessly,
knowing not just where,
and found it was the flowers
that had looked to me like clouds.
Meaning: With my heart adrift I set out, searching with no idea where to go, and found that what had seemed to be clouds were the blossoms themselves.
Commentary: Spring Poems 60

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Waiting for the blossoms"
This is the third poem on waiting for the blossoms. Unable to wait any longer, the poet sets out with his mind adrift and wanders aimlessly in search of them, then realizes with joy that what looked like distant clouds were in fact the blossoms in bloom.
Seeing mountain cherries as white clouds is an old conceit, but here it is cast as the joy of discovery after long waiting. Following the preceding poem's question of which peak would bloom first, the arrangement reads almost as if an answer had been found.

First line, “sora ni idete”: going out with an absent mind, a line with an extra syllable.
Second line, “izuku tomo naku”: with no particular place in mind.
Third line, “tazunureba”: when I went searching.
Fourth line, “kumo to wa hana no”: as clouds, the blossoms, the distant cherries having looked like clouds.
Fifth line, “miyuru narikeri”: so they appeared, closing with keri of realization and the joy of discovery.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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