KKS 53

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Translation

Read on seeing cherry blossoms at the Nagisa Residence.

Lord Ariwara no Narihira

yo no naka ni             In this world
taete sakura no           If cherry blossoms did not
nakari-se-ba              Exist at all
haru no kokoro wa         The hearts of spring season
nodokekara-mashi          Would be tranquility.

Korai Futeisho | Sanjurokunin-sen | Kuhin waka

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Nagisa Residence

Near modern-day Osaka's Nagisahon-machi, on the Yodo river. According to the Ise monogatari this was a residence of Prince Koretaka.

Did not exist at all

A number of manuscripts of the KKS, as well as some versions of the poem in alternate sources, reads saka-zara-ba "did not bloom at all." Because this is it the version of the poem in Ki no Tsuyaruki's Tosa Diary, some scholars have suggested this is a better reading (on aesthetic grounds as well). But Katagiri notes that Tsurayuki's Shinsen waka reads "exist" instead of "bloom," so it's difficult to say on the current evidence which reading is the original one.

The hearts of spring season

The expression haru no kokoro may refer to the feelings of people towards (or in) spring, the nature of spring itself, or some combination of both.

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Japanese Text

渚なぎさの院にて桜を見てよめる　

在原業平朝臣

世の中にたえて桜のなかりせば春の心はのどけからまし

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