Karehatsuru fuji no sueba no kanashiki wa tada haru no hi o tanomu bakari zo - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

枯れ果つる藤の末葉の悲しきは
ただ春の日を頼むばかりぞ

Roma-ji: Karehatsuru fuji no sueba no kanashiki wa tada haru no hi o tanomu bakari zo
English Translation: What saddens me most
about the wisteria's last leaves,
withered to the end,
is that all they can rely on
is the warmth of the spring sun
Meaning: The sorrow of the wisteria's last leaves, withered to the end, is that they have nothing to rely on but the light of the spring sun.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 339

Likening the withered last leaves of a wisteria to himself, of a minor branch of the Fujiwara and out of favor, the poet says he can only rely on the grace of the spring sun. The wisteria is read as the Fujiwara clan and the "spring sun" (haru no hi) as the blessing of the Kasuga deity, the clan's guardian, so the poem carries both the lament and the prayer of one at the far end of the lineage.
Poem 282 of this book sang of the Northern House's prosperity through the northern wisteria on Mount Kasuga, so that a flourishing wisteria and a withering one stand in contrast.

The first line, "karehatsuru" (withered to the end), means completely withered.
The second line, "fuji no sueba no," refers to the leaves at the tips of the wisteria, overlaid with himself as a descendant of a minor Fujiwara line.
The third line, "kanashiki wa," sets the sorrow as the topic with "wa."
The fourth line, "tada haru no hi o" (only the spring sun), refers to the spring sunlight, echoing the grace of the Kasuga deity.
The final line, "tanomu bakari zo," uses "bakari" and "zo" to declare firmly that there is nothing to rely on but this.
Author: Fujiwara no Akisuke
Source: Shika Wakashu
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