去年の春散りにし花も咲きにけり
あはれ別れのかからましかば
あはれ別れのかからましかば
- Roma-ji
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Kozo no haru chirinishi hana mo sakinikeri aware wakare no kakaramashikaba
- English Translation
-
The blossoms that fell
and scattered last spring as well
have bloomed once again —
ah, if only it were so
with partings such as ours
- Meaning
- The blossoms that fell last spring have bloomed again; ah, if only partings like ours were the same.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 402
Seeing the blossoms that fell last spring bloom again this year, the poet wishes that death's parting too could be followed by meeting again. Contrasting flowers that bloom anew each year with a person who never returns, the poem deeply expresses her feelings for the dead.
Like poem 325 of Book Nine, it breaks off with "mashikaba," leaving the lingering resonance of an impossible wish.
The first line, "kozo no haru," means last spring.
The second line, "chirinishi hana mo," combines the perfective "nu" and attributive past "shi": even the blossoms that fell.
The third line, "sakinikeri," combines the perfective "nu" and exclamatory "keri": they have bloomed again, with a break after the third line.
The fourth line, "aware wakare no," laments with "aware" and names parting.
The final line, "kakaramashikaba," adds the counterfactual "mashika" and "ba" to "kakari" (a contraction of "kaku ari"), breaking off: if only it were so.
- Author
- Akazome Emon
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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