Yamazakura hodonaku miyuru nioi kana sakari o hito ni matare matarete

山桜ほどなく見ゆるにほひかな
盛りを人に待たれ待たれて

Roma-ji: Yamazakura hodonaku miyuru nioi kana sakari o hito ni matare matarete
English Translation: Mountain cherries show
for but a little while
their radiant hue;
though for their full bloom people
have waited, and waited on.
Meaning: The beauty of the mountain cherries is seen for only a little while, though people waited and waited for them to reach full bloom.
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1458

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on Blossoms"
The sixth of the ten poems on blossoms. He regrets that the mountain cherries, whose full bloom people waited for so long, can be seen in their beauty only for a moment.
The gap between the long wait and the brief viewing expresses the transience of the blossoms. The full bloom he set out to see in the preceding poem is grasped here again from the side of the flowers awaited by all.

First line, “yamazakura”: the same word continued from the two preceding poems.
Second line, “hodonaku miyuru”: hodonaku means brief, "seen for only a moment."
Third line, “nioi kana”: nioi is the beauty of color, and kana marks exclamation; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “sakari o hito ni”: the full bloom, by people.
Fifth line, “matare matarete”: re is passive, "waited and waited for"; the repetition conveys the length of the wait, in inversion.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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