Kaze fuku to eda o hanarete otsu majiku hana tojitsuke yo aoyagi no ito

風吹くと枝を離れて落つまじく
花綴ぢつけよ青柳の糸

Roma-ji: Kaze fuku to eda o hanarete otsu majiku hana tojitsuke yo aoyagi no ito
English Translation: Though the wind may blow,
that they not leave the branches
and fall to the ground,
stitch the blossoms to the boughs,
you threads of the green willow.
Meaning: So that the blossoms will not leave the branches and fall when the wind blows, stitch them fast, you threads of the green willow.
Commentary: Spring Poems 151

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When composing fifteen poems on cherry blossoms"
The poet calls on the willow to stitch the cherry blossoms to their branches with its green threads, so that they will not leave the boughs and fall when the wind blows.
Making use of the traditional conceit of willow branches as threads, the poem's ingenuity lies in the fanciful idea of sewing the cherries in place with them. The last line aoyagi no ito is the same as in 53 and 54; there the willow was tossed by rain and wind, while here its threads guard the cherry blossoms.

First line, “kaze fuku to”: even when the wind blows.
Second line, “eda o hanarete”: the blossoms leaving the branches.
Third line, “otsu majiku”: so that they will not fall.
Fourth line, “hana tojitsuke yo”: stitch the blossoms fast, an imperative; tozu is a word associated with thread.
Fifth line, “aoyagi no ito”: closing on a noun of address, the same last line as 53 and 54, the willow branches as threads.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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