惜しめども思ひげもなくあだに散る
花は心ぞかしこかりける
花は心ぞかしこかりける
- Roma-ji
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Oshimedomo omoige mo naku ada ni chiru hana wa kokoro zo kashikokarikeru
- English Translation
-
Though we grieve for them,
without a trace of regret,
lightly they let go:
the blossoms, it seems, have hearts
far wiser than our own.
- Meaning
- However much we grieve for them, the blossoms scatter lightly, showing no trace of regret: their hearts, it seems, are wise.
- Commentary
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Spring Poems 121
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When composing many poems on falling blossoms"
However much people may grieve, the blossoms fall lightly without the least sign of reluctance, and the poet praises their hearts as wise.
Instead of resenting the falling flowers, he lauds their clean detachment from the world as the wisdom of the enlightened. Implicitly, he contrasts himself, unable to sever his attachment to the blossoms, with flowers that fall without regret.
First line, “oshimedomo”: however much people grieve.
Second line, “omoige mo naku”: without any sign of lingering attachment.
Third line, “ada ni chiru”: falling fleetingly.
Fourth line, “hana wa kokoro zo”: the emphatic zo forms a kakari-musubi with the attributive keru in the fifth line.
Fifth line, “kashikokarikeru”: they are wise, closing with praise for blossoms unattached to the world.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
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