Ne ni kaeru hana no sugata no koishiku wa tada ko no moto o katami to wa miyo - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

根に帰る花の姿の恋しくは
ただ木のもとを形見とは見よ

Roma-ji: Ne ni kaeru hana no sugata no koishiku wa tada ko no moto o katami to wa miyo
English Translation: If you long to see
the figure of the flowers
returned to the roots,
simply gaze beneath the tree
and take that as their keepsake
Meaning: If you long for the form of the blossoms that have returned to their roots, simply look upon the ground beneath the tree as their keepsake.
Commentary: Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 605

If one longs for the form of the blossoms that have fallen and returned to the roots, the poet says, one should simply look on the ground beneath the tree as their keepsake. Likening the fallen flowers to the departed, he urges that the ground strewn with blossoms beneath the tree be taken as a reminder of the dead.
Following the preceding poem, 604, which called on the plum blossoms of a masterless house to tell of the past, this poem turns to blossoms that have fallen and returned to the roots. Poems remembering the dead through flowers continue.

First line, 'ne ni kaeru', means returning to the roots, seeing the flowers that fall to the foot of the tree as going back to where they came from.
Second line, 'hana no sugata no', means the figure of the flowers, overlaying the face of the departed upon the flowers. It takes up hana from the preceding poem.
Third line, 'koishiku wa', means if you long for them, the continuative of koishi followed by wa expressing a supposition.
Fourth line, 'tada ko no moto o', means simply the foot of the tree, pointing to the roots to which the flowers have returned.
Final line, 'katami to wa miyo', means look on it as a keepsake, closing with the imperative miyo.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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