Kimi ushi ya hana no miyako no hana o mide nawashiromizu ni isogu kokoro yo - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君憂しや花の都の花を見で
苗代水に急ぐ心よ

Roma-ji: Kimi ushi ya hana no miyako no hana o mide nawashiromizu ni isogu kokoro yo
English Translation: How cruel you are:
the flowers of the flower capital
you will not stay to see,
but to the seedling-bed waters
your heart goes hurrying on
Meaning: How unkind you are! Without even seeing the flowers of the flowering capital, your heart goes hurrying off to the waters of the seedling beds.
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 334

The poet reproaches the departing friend as heartless for hurrying down to the seedling-bed waters of the countryside without even looking at the flowers of the capital in full bloom. Setting the bright flowers of the capital against the paddy waters of the provinces, the poem voices the sorrow of parting in the form of a playful complaint.
Some manuscripts give the headnote 'Sent when Kanefusa, having been made Governor of Tango, went down to his province.' It would then be a poem sent to Fujiwara no Kanefusa as he left for his post, the seedling-bed waters standing for the spring fields of his province. The next poem, 335, is the reply to this one.
This is the opening poem of Book Six, Parting Poems. Taking up poem 333, which closed Book Five, Celebration Poems, by blessing the reign for ten thousand ages, this book begins with a poem of parting. The word isogu, to hurry, answers 'I thought I alone was hurrying' in the closing poem, 349.

First line, 'kimi ushi ya', means how cruel you are, ushi expressing resentment at the other's treatment. The poem breaks after the first line.
Second line, 'hana no miyako no', means of the capital of flowers, the splendid city. Like 'toward the capital' in poem 342 and 'longing for the capital' in poem 347 in this book, it sings of the capital.
Third line, 'hana o mide', means without seeing the flowers, using the negative conjunctive de. The kana mite is read with the voicing mark supplied. The second and third lines repeat the word hana, flower.
Fourth line, 'nawashiromizu ni', means to the water of the seedling beds, setting the countryside against the flowers of the capital. The second line of the next poem, 335, is also 'nawashiromizu ni'.
Final line, 'isogu kokoro yo', means that heart of yours that hurries away, with the exclamatory particle yo. It answers the second line 'isogu to omoishi' of the closing poem, 349.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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