Shirakumo ni magau sakura no kozue nite chitose no haru o sora ni shiru kana - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

白雲にまがふ桜のこずゑにて
千歳の春を空に知るかな

Roma-ji: Shirakumo ni magau sakura no kozue nite chitose no haru o sora ni shiru kana
English Translation: In the white-cloud blooms
of the cherries, indistinct,
high upon the boughs,
a thousand springs of fortune
I can read across the sky
Meaning: In the treetops of cherries that blur with the white clouds, I can read in the sky a spring that will last a thousand years.
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems 40

Looking at cherry treetops blooming so high they seem to merge with the white clouds, the poet foresees a spring lasting a thousand years. To the conceit of cherries as clouds, it adds the celebratory word chitose, a thousand years.

First line, 'shirakumo ni', likens cherries to white clouds, like 'what I took to be white clouds' at the head of poem 36.
Second line, 'magau sakura no', uses magau, so alike as to be indistinguishable.
Third line, 'kozue nite', means by way of the treetops, showing high branches touching the sky.
Fourth line, 'chitose no haru o', is a spring that lasts a thousand years, an expression of congratulation on long life and prosperity.
Final line, 'sora ni shiru kana', means I know it in the sky, closing on sky as an associated word of the white clouds.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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