Nagamu tote hana ni mo itaku narenureba chiru wakare koso kanashikarikere

眺むとて花にもいたく馴れぬれば
散る別れこそ悲しかりけれ

Roma-ji: Nagamu tote hana ni mo itaku narenureba chiru wakare koso kanashikarikere
English Translation: For the sake of gazing,
I have grown so close to them,
to the blossoms here,
that their falling, our parting,
is a sorrow deep indeed.
Meaning: Gazing at them day after day, I have grown so close to the blossoms that their falling, our parting, fills me with sorrow.
Commentary: Spring Poems 120

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When composing many poems on falling blossoms"
Visiting the blossoms day after day to gaze at them, the poet has grown so intimate with them that their falling, a parting, is all the more painful.
Treating the blossoms as close friends and likening their fall to parting from a person, the poem frankly expresses that sorrow. This poem was included in the Shin Kokin Wakashū.

First line, “nagamu tote”: in order to gaze.
Second line, “hana ni mo itaku”: with the blossoms too, deeply.
Third line, “narenureba”: since I have grown intimate, giving the reason.
Fourth line, “chiru wakare koso”: the emphatic koso forms a kakari-musubi with kere in the fifth line, likening the falling blossoms to a parting from a person.
Fifth line, “kanashikarikere”: how sad it is, the kakari-musubi intensifying the grief of parting.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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