Chiru to mireba mata saku hana no nioi ni mo okure sakidatsu tameshi arikeri

散ると見ればまた咲く花のにほひにも
遅れ先立つためしありけり

Roma-ji: Chiru to mireba mata saku hana no nioi ni mo okure sakidatsu tameshi arikeri
English Translation: When I see them fall
and others bloom in their place,
even in flowers' hues
there are those left behind and
those who go on before.
Meaning: When I see some blossoms scatter while others only now begin to bloom, I find that even flowers show how some are left behind and others go before.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 772

Headnote: "On seeing cherry blossoms that had begun to bloom beside those that had already scattered"
Seeing cherry trees just beginning to bloom beside blossoms already scattered, the poet composed this. Even in the beauty of flowers that bloom again where others have fallen, there is the pattern of human life, of those left behind and those who go first. In the falling and blooming of flowers he finds the uncertain order of human death.
'Okure sakidatsu,' to be left behind and to go before, is a phrase from Henjō's poem 'Sue no tsuyu / moto no shizuku ya / yo no naka no / okure sakidatsu / tameshi naruran,' speaking of the uncertain order of death.

First line, “chiru to mireba”: when I see them scatter; a line of six syllables.
Second line, “mata saku hana no”: of flowers that bloom anew, set against the scattering of the first line.
Third line, “nioi ni mo”: nioi is the beauty of color, the glow of the blossoms.
Fourth line, “okure sakidatsu”: being left behind and going first, the order of death.
Fifth line, “tameshi arikeri”: keri marks realization, there was such an instance.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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