Ono no e wa ko no moto nite ya kuchinamashi haru o kagiranu sakura nariseba - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

斧の柄は木のもとにてや朽ちなまし
春を限らぬ桜なりせば

Roma-ji: Ono no e wa ko no moto nite ya kuchinamashi haru o kagiranu sakura nariseba
English Translation: Would the axe's haft
beneath the tree have rotted
away into dust,
if the cherries were not bound
to bloom in spring alone
Meaning: If the cherry blossoms were not limited to spring, would the handle of my axe have rotted away beneath the tree as I gazed on?
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems 48

Drawing on the Chinese tale in which so many years passed while a woodcutter watched immortals play go that his axe handle rotted, the poet says that if the cherries bloomed all year, his axe handle too would rot while he gazed at them. Through the old tale he expresses how the cherries' beauty makes one forget time.

First line, 'ono no e wa', comes from the tale of Wang Zhi of Jin, who found his axe handle rotted after watching boys play go in the mountains, and stands for the passage of long ages.
Second line, 'ko no moto nite ya', means beneath the cherry tree, with ya forming a question.
Third line, 'kuchinamashi', means it would have rotted, the counterfactual mashi answering seba in the final line. The poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, 'haru o kagiranu', means not limited to the season of spring.
Final line, 'sakura nariseba', is counterfactual, if they were cherries, inverted with the upper half.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
Prev Poem: Sakurabana sakinuru toki wa yoshinoyama tachi mo noboranu mine no shirakumo
Next Poem: Chiritsumoru niwa o zo mimashi sakurabana kaze yori saki ni tazunezariseba