Miyoshino no yama ni irikemu yamabito to narimiteshigana hana ni aku ya to

み吉野の山に入りけむ山人と
なりみてしがな花に飽くやと

Roma-ji: Miyoshino no yama ni irikemu yamabito to narimiteshigana hana ni aku ya to
English Translation: In fair Yoshino
those who went into the hills—
mountain folk like them,
how I wish that I could be,
to see if blossoms ever pall.
Meaning: I wish I could become like the mountain folk who went into the hills of Yoshino—to see whether one ever tires of the blossoms.
Commentary: Spring Poems 49

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on a model of Mount Yoshino made for an archery gathering, showing mountain folk viewing the blossoms"
The poet wishes he could become one of the mountain folk said to have gone deep into the hills of Yoshino. Then, he says, he could find out whether one ever tires of the blossoms—an inverted way of expressing his inexhaustible love of flowers. Kamo no Mabuchi marked it with a circle, noting that the second and third lines are in Man'yō style.
This poem was included in the Shokusenzai Wakashū.

Line 1 opens like the preceding poem, 48.
Line 2: kemu reports the past by hearsay, "who are said to have entered the hills."
Line 3: yamabito are mountain dwellers, with overtones of hermit sages; it takes up the "mountain keeper" of the preceding poem.
Line 4: teshigana expresses a wish, "how I wish I could be," and the poem pauses here.
Line 5 gives the reason in inversion: to find out whether one tires of blossoms. Where 48 watched the keeper from outside, here the poet wishes to become such a person and find out.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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