仏には桜の花をたてまつれ
我が後の世を人とぶらはば
我が後の世を人とぶらはば
- Roma-ji
-
Hotoke ni wa sakura no hana o tatematsure waga nochi no yo o hito toburawaba
- English Translation
-
To the Buddha then,
offer blossoms of the cherry,
offer them for me,
if for my life after this
someone should hold rites for me.
- Meaning
- Offer cherry blossoms to the Buddha, if anyone should pray for me in the life to come.
- Commentary
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Spring Poems 78
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When composing many poems on cherry blossoms"
The poet asks that, if anyone holds memorial rites for him after his death, they offer cherry blossoms before the Buddha.
Following the preceding poem's wish to die beneath the blossoms, this one seeks cherries even for the rites after death. Paired with the preceding poem, it expresses an unending longing to be with the cherry both in life and after it. This poem was included in the Senzai Wakashū.
First line, “hotoke ni wa”: before the Buddha, to whom offerings are made after death.
Second line, “sakura no hana o”: specifying cherry blossoms as the offering.
Third line, “tatematsure”: offer them, an imperative, with a break after the third line.
Fourth line, “waga nochi no yo o”: my life after death.
Fifth line, “hito toburawaba”: if people should mourn me, giving the condition in inverted order.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
- Prev Poem
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Negawaku wa hana no shita nite haru shinan sono kisaragi no mochizuki no koro
- Next Poem
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Nani to ka ya yo ni arigataki na o etaru hana mo sakura ni masari shi mo seji