Taguinaki hana o shi eda ni sakasureba sakura ni narabu ki zo nakarikeru

類なき花をし枝に咲かすれば
桜に並ぶ木ぞなかりける

Roma-ji: Taguinaki hana o shi eda ni sakasureba sakura ni narabu ki zo nakarikeru
English Translation: Flowers past compare
it brings forth upon its boughs,
and because of that,
to the cherry there exists
no tree that can stand as peer.
Meaning: Because it makes blossoms beyond compare bloom on its branches, there is no tree that can stand beside the cherry.
Commentary: Spring Poems 73

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When composing many poems on cherry blossoms"
This poem praises the cherry: because it brings forth blossoms more beautiful than anything else on its branches, there is no other tree to rank beside it.
By declaring the cherry's peerlessness with a tidy line of reasoning, the poet expresses an absolute devotion. After the pairing of blossoms and moon in the two preceding poems, the sequence returns to praise of the cherry itself.

First line, “taguinaki”: beyond compare.
Second line, “hana o shi eda ni”: shi is an emphatic particle, such flowers indeed.
Third line, “sakasureba”: because it makes them bloom, giving the reason.
Fourth line, “sakura ni narabu”: to stand beside the cherry, its match; the kakari-musubi lies in the fifth line.
Fifth line, “ki zo nakarikeru”: the emphatic zo forms a kakari-musubi with the attributive keru, firmly closing with the claim that no tree is its equal.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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