Yamazakura sakinu to kikite mi ni yukan hito o arasou kokoro todomete

山桜咲きぬと聞きて見にゆかん
人を争ふ心とどめて

Roma-ji: Yamazakura sakinu to kikite mi ni yukan hito o arasou kokoro todomete
English Translation: Mountain cherries now
have come to bloom, so I hear;
I will go and see,
holding back within my heart
the wish to vie with others.
Meaning: Hearing that the mountain cherries have bloomed, I will go to see them, holding back the heart that would race against others.
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1457

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on Blossoms"
The fifth of the ten poems on blossoms. Hearing that the mountain cherries are in bloom, he will go to see them, but with the urge to compete with others held in check.
The heart that in the preceding poem wished to keep the blossoms to himself here restrains itself and goes to see them without rivalry. The sway between attachment to the blossoms and the heart that rebukes it is drawn out by the arrangement of the two poems.

First line, “yamazakura”: the word of the preceding poem's third line set at the head, taking it up.
Second line, “sakinu to kikite”: nu marks completion, "hearing they have bloomed."
Third line, “mi ni yukan”: n expresses intention, "I will go to see"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “hito o arasou”: vying with others, answering “hito ni wa miseji” of the preceding poem.
Fifth line, “kokoro todomete”: holding that heart in check, in inversion; it echoes “tomeshi kokoro” of 1453 and “tomaran” of 1455.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Tazuneiru hito ni wa miseji yamazakura ware to o hana ni awan to omoeba
Next Poem: Yamazakura hodonaku miyuru nioi kana sakari o hito ni matare matarete