深山木のその梢とも見えざりし
桜は花にあらはれにけり
桜は花にあらはれにけり
- Roma-ji
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Miyamagi no sono kozue tomo miezarishi sakura wa hana ni arawarenikeri
- English Translation
-
Among the deep hill trees
not even by its branch tips
could it once be told;
now the cherry by its blossoms
has revealed itself at last.
- Meaning
- Among the trees of the deep mountains, I could not tell which treetops were the cherry's; now, by its blossoms, the cherry has revealed itself.
- Commentary
-
Book One Spring Poems 17
A tree lost among the others, never noticed as a cherry, is revealed as one only when it blooms. The discovery that true nature shows itself in the season of flowering is told in plain words.
It is a well-known poem of Minamoto no Yorimasa. From here the cherry blossom poems continue.
The first line, "among the deep hill trees," names the trees of the deep mountains among which the cherry is hidden.
The second line, "not even by its branch tips," means it could not be told from the other trees as a cherry.
The third line, "could it once be told," describes a past state, "shi" being the attributive of the past "ki."
The fourth line, "the cherry by its blossoms," first names the cherry as subject, revealed through flowering.
The last line, "has revealed itself," expresses with "keri" the realization that its true identity has come to light.
- Author
- Minamoto no Yorimasa
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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Furusato no mikaki no yanagi harubaru to ta ga somekakeshi asamidori zo mo
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Kurenai no usuhanazakura niowazu wa mina shirakumo to mite ya sugimashi