尋ね入る人には見せじ山桜
我とを花に逢はんと思へば
我とを花に逢はんと思へば
- Roma-ji
-
Tazuneiru hito ni wa miseji yamazakura ware to o hana ni awan to omoeba
- English Translation
-
To those who come in
seeking, I will not show you,
mountain cherry blossoms,
for I wish, all on my own,
to meet you, the flowers, alone.
- Meaning
- I will not show the mountain cherries to those who come searching deep into the hills, for I mean to meet the blossoms all by myself.
- Commentary
-
One Hundred Poems 1456
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on Blossoms"
The fourth of the ten poems on blossoms. He will not show the mountain cherries to those who come seeking them, for he wishes to meet the blossoms alone.
The charm lies in stating frankly his wish to keep the blossoms to himself, as though meeting a lover. Following the crowds entering Yoshino in the preceding poem, the heart turns here to shutting out those who come into the hills; in the next poem he will rebuke that same possessiveness, so that the arrangement forms a single movement of the heart.
First line, “tazuneiru”: coming deep into the mountains in search of blossoms, taking up “irinumeri” of the preceding poem.
Second line, “hito ni wa miseji”: ji is negative intention, "I will not show them"; the poem breaks here.
Third line, “yamazakura”: the mountain cherries he will not show.
Fourth line, “ware to o hana ni”: ware to means by oneself, and o is an interjectory particle adding emphasis.
Fifth line, “awan to omoeba”: because I wish to meet them, the inversion giving the reason for not showing them.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
- Prev Poem
-
Hito wa mina yoshino no yama e irinumeri miyako no hana ni ware wa tomaran
- Next Poem
-
Yamazakura sakinu to kikite mi ni yukan hito o arasou kokoro todomete