Onozukara hana naki toshi no haru mo araba nani ni tsukete ka hi o kurasu beki

おのづから花なき年の春もあらば
何につけてか日を暮らすべき

Roma-ji: Onozukara hana naki toshi no haru mo araba nani ni tsukete ka hi o kurasu beki
English Translation: If by chance there came
a spring within a year
when no blossoms bloomed,
what then could I turn to
to while away the days?
Meaning: If by chance there were a spring in some year with no blossoms, what could I turn to in passing my days?
Commentary: Spring Poems 92

Headnote: "When people composed poems on the topic “In spring the blossoms are my friends” at the residence of the former Kamo Priestess at Sekain"
According to the headnote, this poem was composed when people wrote on the topic “In spring the blossoms are my friends” at the residence of the Priestess at Sekain. If some year there should come a spring without blossoms, the poet asks, what friend could he spend his days with?
By imagining a spring without flowers, the poem shows how wholly the poet's spring days depend on the blossoms. It treats the topic of blossoms as friends by imagining the loss of that friend. The headnote's Sekain no saiin is thought to refer to the residence of a princess who had served as Kamo Priestess, but who exactly is meant cannot be determined from the text.

First line, “onozukara”: by chance, perhaps.
Second line, “hana naki toshi no”: of a year with no blossoms.
Third line, “haru mo araba”: if there were such a spring, a condition.
Fourth line, “nani ni tsukete ka”: by what means; the interrogative ka forms a kakari-musubi with the attributive beki in the fifth line.
Fifth line, “hi o kurasu beki”: should I pass the days, closing by expressing the friendship of the blossoms from its reverse side.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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