Hanami ni to muretsutsu hito no kuru nomi zo atara sakura no toga ni wa arikeru

花見にと群れつつ人の来るのみぞ
あたら桜の咎にはありける

Roma-ji: Hanami ni to muretsutsu hito no kuru nomi zo atara sakura no toga ni wa arikeru
English Translation: Coming to view blooms,
swarming in, the crowds of folk,
this alone, it seems,
is the only fault one finds
in the cherry, sad to say.
Meaning: That crowds of people come swarming to view the blossoms, that alone is the one fault of this precious cherry tree.
Commentary: Spring Poems 87

Headnote: "At a time when I wished for quiet, people came to view the blossoms"
According to the headnote, this poem was composed when crowds came to view the blossoms at a time when the poet wished for quiet. If this lovely cherry has any fault, he says, it is only that it draws flocks of blossom viewers.
For one living in the mountains in search of quiet, the cherry is beloved yet also brings people who disturb that peace. The humour lies in voicing this with a light, mock reproach of the tree. This poem later became the source of Zeami's Noh play Saigyō-zakura.

First line, “hanami ni to”: to view the blossoms.
Second line, “muretsutsu hito no”: people in crowds.
Third line, “kuru nomi zo”: the emphatic zo forms a kakari-musubi with the attributive keru in the fifth line, limiting the fault to people coming.
Fourth line, “atara sakura no”: of this precious, splendid cherry.
Fifth line, “toga ni wa arikeru”: it was the fault, ending in the attributive form in answer to zo, naming the cherry's only flaw.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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