Chiru hana ni mata mo ya awamu obotsukana sono haru made to shiranu mi nareba - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

散る花にまたもや逢はむおぼつかな
その春までと知らぬ身なれば

Roma-ji: Chiru hana ni mata mo ya awamu obotsukana sono haru made to shiranu mi nareba
English Translation: The falling blossoms —
shall I meet with them again?
How uncertain it is,
for I cannot know that I
will live until that spring
Meaning: Shall I ever meet these falling blossoms again? How uncertain it is, for I cannot know that I will live until next spring.
Commentary: Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 352

Before the falling blossoms, the poet wonders anxiously whether he will meet them again next spring. Uncertain whether he will live until then, he overlays the parting from the flowers with the frailty of life.
Poem 358 of this book also says "mata mo ya haru ni awamu to suramu," so that through blossoms and the warbler the fear of not meeting spring again echoes. Poem 277 of Book Nine likewise sings of one who may leave the world before the blossoms.

The first line, "chiru hana ni" (the falling blossoms), names the scattering cherry flowers.
The second line, "mata mo ya awamu," forms a kakari-musubi of "ya" and the attributive conjectural "mu": shall I meet them again? A break falls after the second line. Poem 358 of this book also uses "mata mo ya."
The third line, "obotsukana," is the stem of the adjective "obotsukanashi," lamenting the uncertainty, with a break after the third line. Poem 361 of this book uses the same word.
The fourth line, "sono haru made to" (until that spring), refers to the coming spring.
The final line, "shiranu mi nareba," combines the attributive negative and a conditional of certainty with the copula, giving by inversion the reason: since I am one who cannot know.
Author: Fujiwara no Sanekata
Source: Shika Wakashu
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