Omoide ni nani o ka semashi kono haru no hana machitsukenu waga mi nariseba

思ひ出に何をかせましこの春の
花待ちつけぬ我が身なりせば

Roma-ji: Omoide ni nani o ka semashi kono haru no hana machitsukenu waga mi nariseba
English Translation: As a memory,
what then could I have kept,
if in this year's spring
I had not lived to welcome
the blossoms that I awaited?
Meaning: What would I have had as a memory of this life if I had not lived to greet the blossoms of this spring?
Commentary: Spring Poems 93

Headnote: "On the topic “Viewing blossoms in old age”"
The topic is viewing blossoms in old age. Had his life ended in old age without seeing this spring's blossoms, the poet asks, what would he have had as a memory of this world?
Through a counterfactual, the poem shows that for one grown old, each year's meeting with the blossoms becomes an irreplaceable memory. Joy at seeing the flowers once more mingles with thoughts of the few springs that remain.

First line, “omoide ni”: as a memory of this life, a line with an extra syllable.
Second line, “nani o ka semashi”: ka is interrogative and mashi counterfactual, what should I have done, with a break after the second line.
Third line, “kono haru no”: of this year's spring.
Fourth line, “hana machitsukenu”: unable to live until the blossoms came.
Fifth line, “waga mi nariseba”: if I had been such a one, giving in inverted order the supposition that answers mashi.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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