Yoshinoyama hana fukigushite mine koyuru arashi wa kumo to yoso ni miyuran

吉野山花吹き具して峰越ゆる
嵐は雲とよそに見ゆらん

Roma-ji: Yoshinoyama hana fukigushite mine koyuru arashi wa kumo to yoso ni miyuran
English Translation: On Mount Yoshino,
carrying the blooms along,
crossing over peaks,
to those far off, the storm wind
must appear to be a cloud.
Meaning: The storm that sweeps over the peaks of Mount Yoshino carrying the blossoms with it must look, from far away, like a cloud.
Commentary: Spring Poems 115

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When composing many poems on falling blossoms"
The poet imagines that to someone watching from far away, the storm crossing the peaks of Mount Yoshino with the blossoms in tow must look like white clouds passing over the ridge.
The ingenuity lies in the idea that the invisible storm becomes visible as a cloud by carrying petals over the peak. Where the preceding poem wished for a storm that would not scatter the flowers, this one portrays the storm bearing them away.

First line, “Yoshinoyama”: Mount Yoshino in Yamato, famed for its cherries.
Second line, “hana fukigushite”: blowing the blossoms along with it.
Third line, “mine koyuru”: crossing the peak, modifying the storm in the fourth line.
Fourth line, “arashi wa kumo to”: the storm, as a cloud, likening the petal-laden wind to a cloud and taking up arashi from the last line of the preceding poem.
Fifth line, “yoso ni miyuran”: so it must appear from afar, closing with the conjectural ran.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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