Katsuragi ya takama no sakura nagamureba yū iru kumo ni harusame zo furu

葛城や高間の桜眺むれば
夕居る雲に春雨ぞ降る

Roma-ji: Katsuragi ya takama no sakura nagamureba yū iru kumo ni harusame zo furu
English Translation: Katsuragi, ah!
the cherries of Takama—
as I gaze afar,
on the clouds that rest at evening
the gentle spring rain is falling.
Meaning: As I gaze at the cherries of Takama on Mount Katsuragi, spring rain falls on the clouds that linger there at evening.
Commentary: Spring Poems 52

Headnote: "Cherry blossoms on a distant mountain"
Gazing at the cherries of Takama on distant Katsuragi, the poet sees spring rain falling on blossoms that look like clouds resting on the mountain at evening. Likening the cherries to clouds and adding falling spring rain, he paints the mood of a misty evening scene. Kamo no Mabuchi said seeing blossoms as clouds is a later practice and that the poem is still immature.
This poem was included in the Shingosen Wakashū, where the last line reads harukaze zo fuku ("the spring wind blows"). In the Ruijū text the headnote reads "Cherries on a distant mountain."

Line 1: ya is an exclamatory particle, naming Mount Katsuragi, sung in 11.
Line 2: Takama is the main peak of Katsuragi (Mount Kongō), and the line names the distant cherries.
Line 3 means "as I gaze into the distance."
Line 4: iru means for clouds to linger; the cherries are likened to evening clouds, taking up "white clouds hanging" in the preceding poem, 51.
Line 5 forms a kakarimusubi with zo, the same closing as 41 and 43.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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