Hito wa mina yoshino no yama e irinumeri miyako no hana ni ware wa tomaran

人はみな吉野の山へ入りぬめり
都の花に我はとまらん

Roma-ji: Hito wa mina yoshino no yama e irinumeri miyako no hana ni ware wa tomaran
English Translation: People one and all
have gone off to Yoshino,
to the mountain, it seems;
but among the capital's blossoms
I myself shall linger on.
Meaning: Everyone, it seems, has gone into the mountains of Yoshino; I shall stay behind among the blossoms of the capital.
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1455

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on Blossoms"
The third of the ten poems on blossoms. Since everyone seems to have gone off to Mount Yoshino at the height of the blossoms, he will stay with the blossoms of the capital.
Against the crowds heading to the famous site, he chooses to remain in the emptied capital and view the blossoms quietly, a heart that does not follow the throng. In 1453 he left his heart among Yoshino's blossoms; here he keeps his body among those of the capital, and the words tomu and tomaru echo each other.

First line, “hito wa mina”: everyone in the world, set against “ware wa” in the fifth line.
Second line, “Yoshino no yama e”: following the two preceding poems, Mount Yoshino again, the destination of the crowds.
Third line, “irinumeri”: nu marks completion and meri inference, "they seem to have gone in"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “miyako no hana ni”: the blossoms of the emptied capital, contrasted with those of Yoshino.
Fifth line, “ware wa tomaran”: n expresses intention, "I shall stay."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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