Kaze fukeba hana wa yuki to zo chirimagau yoshino no yama wa haru ya nakaramu

風吹けば花は雪とぞ散りまがふ
吉野の山は春やなからむ

Roma-ji: Kaze fukeba hana wa yuki to zo chirimagau yoshino no yama wa haru ya nakaramu
English Translation: When the wind is blowing,
the blossoms swirl like falling snow,
till none can tell them—
on the hills of Yoshino,
is there then no spring at all?
Meaning: When the wind blows, the blossoms whirl down indistinguishable from snow—is there no spring at all on the hills of Yoshino?
Commentary: Spring Poems 83

Headnote: "Blossoms resembling snow"
Since the blossoms scatter like snow whenever the wind blows, the poet playfully asks whether Yoshino has no spring and remains in winter forever. Turning the image of snowy Yoshino to his advantage, he treats the storm of petals as snow in a witty poem. Kamo no Mabuchi marked it with a circle.
In the Ruijū text the headnote reads "On the theme of blossoms resembling snow."

Line 1, "When the wind is blowing," is a habitual condition.
Line 2: zo is a binding particle, likening the blossoms to snow.
Line 3: chirimagau means to scatter until indistinguishable; it is the attributive concluding zo, and the poem pauses here.
Line 4 names Yoshino as a famous place for snow.
Line 5: ya with the attributive of mu forms a kakarimusubi, asking whether there is no spring. Taking up the snow image of the preceding poem, 82, it jokes that it is still winter.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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