Oto ni kiku yoshino no sakura sakinikeri yama no fumoto ni kakaru shirakumo

音に聞く吉野の桜咲きにけり
山の麓にかかる白雲

Roma-ji: Oto ni kiku yoshino no sakura sakinikeri yama no fumoto ni kakaru shirakumo
English Translation: So renowned in tales,
the cherries of Yoshino
have burst into bloom—
at the foot of the mountains
white clouds are hanging low.
Meaning: The famous cherry blossoms of Yoshino have bloomed—white clouds seem to hang at the foot of the mountains.
Commentary: Spring Poems 51

Headnote: "Cherry blossoms at a famous site"
The poet knows that the famous cherries of Yoshino have bloomed by the sight of flowers like white clouds hanging at the foot of the mountains. Likening cherries in full bloom to white clouds is a traditional conceit, and the poem sings of the splendor of the famed site in full flower. Kamo no Mabuchi remarked that likening blossoms to clouds was fine for one or two poets of old, but questioned it in this age, lamented the clumsiness of those who kept doing it afterward, and called the last line a later manner.

Line 1, "So renowned in tales," refers to the fame of Yoshino's cherries.
Line 2 names the cherries of Yoshino, the foremost site for blossoms.
Line 3: keri expresses wonder, and the poem pauses here.
Line 4 names where the blossoms bloom.
Line 5 ends on a noun, likening the cherries to white clouds. The next poem, 52, also sees cherries as clouds, continuing the conceit.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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