Onajiku wa sakisomeshi yori shime okite hito ni orarenu hana to omowan

同じくは咲き初めしより標置きて
人に折られぬ花と思はん

Roma-ji: Onajiku wa sakisomeshi yori shime okite hito ni orarenu hana to omowan
English Translation: If it's all the same,
from the moment it first blooms
I'll set up my rope,
and think of it as a flower
none but I may pluck.
Meaning: If it is all the same, I will mark it with my rope from the moment it first blooms, and think of it as a flower no one else may pluck.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1265

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "One hundred and ten love poems"
If it is all the same, I will mark it as mine from the moment it begins to bloom and think of it as a flower no one else may break off, the poet says.
Likening the beloved to a flower, it sings of the wish to claim her early so no one else can take her. Where 1261 fretted over whose sleeves the plum's scent would cling to, here the poet seeks to protect it by roping it off from the first.

First line, “onajiku wa”: if it is all the same.
Second line, “sakisomeshi yori”: from when it first bloomed.
Third line, “shime okite”: shime is a rope marking possession.
Fourth line, “hito ni orarenu”: not to be broken off by others.
Fifth line, “hana to omowan”: n is volitional, "I will think of it as such a flower."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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