Yamazakura ima wa no koro no hana no e ni yūbe no ame no tsuyu zo koboruru

山桜今はの頃の花の枝に
夕べの雨の露ぞこぼるる

Roma-ji: Yamazakura ima wa no koro no hana no e ni yūbe no ame no tsuyu zo koboruru
English Translation: The mountain cherry,
at the time of its last moments,
on the flowering branch,
from the rain of evening
the dewdrops are spilling down.
Meaning: On the branches of the mountain cherry in its final moments of bloom, the dew of the evening rain spills down.
Commentary: Spring Poems 87

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Blossoms in the evening rain"
The poet depicts dew from the evening rain spilling from the branches of a mountain cherry on the verge of falling. The flowers at their last moment and the falling dew overlap, so that the dew feels like tears shed for the blossoms. Kamo no Mabuchi said the lower verse does not suit this poet.

Line 1 opens like the preceding poem, 86.
Line 2: ima wa means the final moment, the time of falling. Where "scattered in vain" in the preceding poem meant flowers already fallen, here they are about to fall, a pairing of before and after.
Line 3 is the same line as in the preceding poem.
Line 4 is also the same as in the preceding poem; the two poems sing the same scene with slight variation.
Line 5: zo with the attributive forms a kakarimusubi; against "the dew lingers" in the preceding poem, it shows the motion of dew spilling.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
Prev Poem: Yamazakura ada ni chirinishi hana no e ni yūbe no ame no tsuyu no nokoreru
Next Poem: Kotoshi sae towarede kurenu sakurabana haru mo munashiki na ni koso arikere