Machikitsuru Yakami no sakura sakinikeri araku orosu na Misu no yamakaze

待ち来つる八上の桜咲きにけり
荒くおろすな三栖の山風

Roma-ji: Machikitsuru Yakami no sakura sakinikeri araku orosu na Misu no yamakaze
English Translation: Long awaited, now
the cherries of Yakami
have come into bloom:
do not blow so roughly down,
mountain wind from Misu's hills.
Meaning: The long-awaited cherries of Yakami have come into bloom. Do not blow down too roughly, mountain wind of Misu.
Commentary: Spring Poems 98

Headnote: "On the way to Kumano, the blossoms at the Yakami Ōji shrine were so lovely that I wrote this on the shrine"
According to the headnote, the poet wrote this on the shrine because the cherries at the Yakami Ōji shrine were so lovely on his way to Kumano. The long-awaited cherries of Yakami have finally bloomed, and he begs the wind sweeping down from the hills of Misu not to blow so roughly as to scatter them.
Along the pilgrimage road to Kumano stood many Ōji shrines to the offspring deities of the Kumano gods, and Yakami was one of them. Tenderness for the blossoms met along the way is simply expressed as an appeal to the mountain wind.

First line, “machikitsuru”: long awaited.
Second line, “Yakami no sakura”: the cherries of the Yakami Ōji shrine in Kii.
Third line, “sakinikeri”: they have bloomed, keri expressing joyful realization, with a break after the third line.
Fourth line, “araku orosu na”: do not blow down roughly; na marks a prohibition.
Fifth line, “Misu no yamakaze”: closing on a noun of address, speaking to the wind sweeping down from Misu in Kii.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Nagamuru ni hana no natate no mi narazu wa kono sato nite ya kumo o kurasan
Next Poem: Onozukara kuru hito araba morotomo ni nagamemahoshiki yamazakura kana