Fuku kaze no namete kozue ni ataru kana kabakari hito no oshimu sakura ni

吹く風のなめて梢に当たるかな
かばかり人の惜しむ桜に

Roma-ji: Fuku kaze no namete kozue ni ataru kana kabakari hito no oshimu sakura ni
English Translation: How the blowing wind
strikes upon the treetops all,
every one alike,
even on the cherries, so
dearly loved by everyone.
Meaning: How the wind strikes every treetop alike, even the cherries that people cherish so dearly!
Commentary: Spring Poems 152

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When composing fifteen poems on cherry blossoms"
The wind blows against every treetop alike, the poet laments, striking even the cherries that people grieve so much to see fall, just as it does any other tree.
He bewails the heartlessness of a wind that pays no heed to human feeling and makes no distinction between cherries and other trees. The wish in the preceding poem to have the willow stitch the blossoms fast turns here to resentment of the merciless wind.

First line, “fuku kaze no”: the blowing wind.
Second line, “namete kozue ni”: namete means all alike, on every treetop without distinction.
Third line, “ataru kana”: how it strikes, with the exclamatory kana and a break after the third line.
Fourth line, “kabakari hito no”: that people so much.
Fifth line, “oshimu sakura ni”: even on the cherries they cherish, naming in inverted order the object of the lament.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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