31shortyones04) what it is to be unique ― Sayaka gets worried about her place in this conversation

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４）（亭子院の歌合に）

さくらちるこのしたかぜはさむからでそらにしられぬゆきぞふりける

「桜散る木の下風は寒からで空に知られぬ雪ぞ降りける」

紀貫之（きのつらゆき）

♪(SING)♪

－－－－－－－－－－

４）（亭子院の歌合に）

さくらちるこのしたかぜはさむからでそらにしられぬゆきぞふりける

「桜散る木の下風は寒からで空に知られぬ雪ぞ降りける」

『拾遺集』春・六四・紀貫之（きのつらゆき）（ca.866-945：男性）

（宇多院主催の「延喜十三年亭子院歌合」での詠歌）

『満開だった桜も散る頃になると、木の下に立って惜しみ見送る私に吹き付ける風もまるで冷たさを感じさせぬ春の気配・・・なのに頭上には季節外れの雪が舞う・・・深まる春を目にも肌にも鮮やかに印象付ける、桜吹雪の華麗な舞い。』

(in a TANKA competition at Teiji-in)

Flowers falling down from cherry trees above

Look just like snow in strangely warm storm.

さくら【桜】〔名〕＜NOUN:cherry blossom＞

ちる【散る】〔自ラ四〕（ちる＝連体形）＜VERB:fall down, leave trees＞

こ【木】〔名〕＜NOUN:trees＞

の【の】〔格助〕＜POSTPOSITIONAL PARTICLE(POSSESSIVE):’s, of, belonging to＞

したかぜ【下風】〔名〕＜NOUN:the wind underneath＞

は【は】〔係助〕＜POSTPOSITIONAL PARTICLE(SUBJECT)＞

さむし【寒し】〔形ク〕（さむから＝未然形）＜VERB:feel cold, chilly＞

で【で】〔接助〕＜POSTPOSITIONAL PARTICLE(SITUATION):without being -ing, despite -ing＞

…the wind blowing below the cherry trees where flowers fall down does not feel cold, and yet

そら【空】〔名〕＜NOUN:the sky, air＞

に【に】〔格助〕＜POSTPOSITIONAL PARTICLE(PLACE): in＞

しる【知る】〔他ラ四〕（しら＝未然形）＜VERB:know, realize, be familiar with＞

る【る】〔助動ラ下二型〕受身（れ＝未然形）＜AUXILIARY VERB(PASSIVE VOICE):be -ed＞

ず【ず】〔助動特殊型〕打消（ぬ＝連体形）＜AUXILIARY VERB(NEGATIVE):not＞

ゆき【雪】〔名〕＜NOUN:the snow＞

ぞ【ぞ】〔係助〕＜POSTPOSITIONAL PARTICLE(EMPHATIC)＞

ふる【降る】〔自ラ四〕（ふり＝連用形）＜VERB:fall down＞

けり【けり】〔助動ラ変型〕過去（ける＝連体形係り結び）＜AUXILIARY VERB(DISCOVERY):I found out＞

…I find strange kind of snow falling down in the sky [only around the cherry trees]

《sakura chiru ko no shitakaze wa samukara de sora ni shirarenu yuki zo furi keru》

■same old scene in freshly beautiful words… a tough challenge in Heianese TANKA ― both for the poet and the reader■

　Without a doubt, 桜（sakura = cherry blossom） is the greatest Spring superstar in Japanese TANKA, appearing 311 times among some 9,700 poems in 八代集（hachidaishuu = eight great Imperial TANKA anthologies）: out of some 1,100 poems which constitute “春:Spring” sections of 八代集（hachidaishuu）, 239 appearance (21%) of 桜（sakura） is simply overwhelming, compared with 10% of its seasonal predecessor 梅（ume = a plum, or Japanese apricot）.

　It should also be noted that 桜（sakura）’s confusing white rival trios of 雪（yuki = snow）, 霞（kasumi = haze） and 雲（kumo = clouds） also boast quite high rates of appearance (10%, 10%, 6% respectively). As a matter of natural fact, 梅（ume = a plum） is practically never seen coupled with 桜（sakura = cherry blossom） both in nature and in Heianese TANKA*.

・・・*the only exception to this rule in 八代集（hachidaishuu） is an absurdly wishful imaginary poem which runs like this: “《ume no ka wo sakura no hana ni niowasete yanagi ga eda ni sakasete shigana：うめのかをさくらのはなににほはせて　やなぎがえだにさかせてしがな》『後拾遺集（Go-Shuui-shuu）』春(Spring) No.82 by 中原致時（Nakahara-no-Munetoki）梅の香を(the scent of a plum)桜の花に匂はせて(floating from the flowers of cherry)柳が枝に咲かせて(blooming on the branches of a willow)しがな(how wonderful it would be to enjoy the Spring Big Three on the same tree!)”

　On the other hand, the white misty veils of 雪（yuki = snow）, 霞（kasumi = haze） and 雲（kumo = clouds） have a way of appearing in Spring TANKA with a view to consciously inviting the reader’s confusion with 桜（cherry blossom）. Statistically speaking, the confusing white pair of “桜＆雲（cherry blossom and clouds）” appears 27 times in “春：Spring” section, “桜＆雪（cherry blossom and snow）” 19, and “桜＆霞（cherry blossom and haze）” 18 times… Please don’t forget this statistical evidence is taken from 八代集（hachidaishuu） alone: just imagine how many more such hackneyed pairs of cherry/clouds/snow/haze might have been referred to on the lips of the Japanese who love nothing more than conforming comfortably to time-honored stereotypes…

　It would be wrong, however, to dismiss as stereotype this particular poem of beautiful Spring scenery, for it’s one of the “Founding Fathers” of such traditional imagery in Heianese TANKA, at the hands of none other than 紀貫之（Ki-no-Tsurayuki：872-945）, the greatest contributor to the promotion of TANKA in its earliest stage of rivalry against KARA-UTA(唐歌：Chinese poetry) as the editor/creator of such epoch-making works as “古今集（Kokin-shuu）”, “土佐日記（Tosa-nikki）” and possibly “伊勢物語（Ise-monogatari）”.

　The first one to say something new in a crude way is to be more respected and admired than someone else who says something old in a better way ― this is the golden rule in the conventions of inventions, although not quite so in the actual competition of consumer goods industries, where the Japan in the 1980’s enjoyed its (transient) prime, thanks to its superb ability at improving upon what already existed, despite their lack of original creativity…. Well, old stories aside, let’s get back to this earliest piece of Heianese TANKA which deals with the subject (soon to be hackneyed) of “cherry flowers falling like so many snowflakes”… is there any room for later improvement? I doubt it ― it’s a perfect beauty! The first one to invent it being the best one to complete it… that’s what 紀貫之(Ki-no-Tsurayuki) did in this masterpiece which paved the way for the Japanese consciousness to see cherry flowers as strangely warm snow in Spring. All those coming after him had to evade the same path in order to avoid appearing stupid by rephrasing the same old scene in worse ways; or alternatively, later followers had to re-invent the original creation in uniquely novel ways… although such attempts were always in danger of ending up in something weird (like the Chimera or Frankenstein’s monster) or too uniquely re-inventive to be understood by anyone else than the author… or only to be accepted and admired by the proudly exclusive groups of pedants.

　Now, let us review the re-invention efforts (after 3 centuries of accumulated poetical tradition) by two later masters of Japanese TANKA in its overmatured years at the end of 平安（Heian）/the beginning of 鎌倉（Kamakura） period:

《よしのやまさくらがえだにゆきちりて　はなおそげなるとしにもあるかな：Yoshino-yama sakura ga eda ni yuki chirite hana osoge naru toshi nimo aru kana》『新古今集（Shin-Kokin-shuu）』春（Spring） No.79 by 西行法師（Saigyou-houshi：1118-1190）吉野山(in the mountains of Yoshino)桜が枝に(on the branches of cherry trees)雪散りて(snow has been scattered)花遅げなる年にもあるかな(flowers seem very late in coming out this year)

・・・Don’t take 西行（Saigyou） for his words, for he is saying it to test your poetic accomplishment.

　Do you know what makes “吉野山（Yoshino-yama = the mountains of Yoshino）” so famous? ― lots of snow and fabulous cherry trees, both overwhelmingly white, so much so that they are hardly distinguishable in early Spring.

　Don’t you think it strange that he says “雪散りて（yuki chirite = snow has been scattered）” as opposed to “雪降りて（yuki furite = snow has fallen）” or “雪積もりて（yuki tsumorite = snow has accumulated）”? If Saigyou meant to refer to the famous snow of Yoshino, why should he focus his attention, of all places, on the branches of cherry trees, when he should have been overwhelmed by the daunting whiteness of the snow all around him?

　And don’t you feel it sound queer ― “花遅げなる年（hana osoge naru toshi = a year in which flowers seem to come out later than usual）” ― do you really believe that “cherry flowers are late in coming out” in this particular year? If so, why? Because “桜が枝に雪散りて（sakura ga eda ni yuki chirite = snow has been scattered on the branches of cherry trees）”?… If you think so, you have been nicely taken in by 西行法師（Saigyou-houshi）. Remember ― Saigyou is a poet, not a weather-forecaster: why should he refer to “the scattered snow on the branches of cherry trees” to explain to you the reason why he expects cherry flowers to come out later than usual this year?

　Remember also that Saigyou is one of the most notable poets of that famous (or infamous?) “新古今時代（Shin-Kokin-jidai = the age of Kokin-shuu-reinvented）” when TANKA was not so straightforward as in its earlier years, as a natural consequence of three centuries of traditional accumulation.

　Yes, you see, “桜が枝に散りたる雪（sakura ga eda ni chiritaru yuki = the snow scattered on the cherry branches)” in this poem is nothing but consciously camouflaged “桜（sakura = cherry blossom）” in the confusing veil of WHITE!

　”Impossible!” you say?… Well, it only goes to show your lack of imagination ― you must put yourself in the shoes of those poets who had to create something novel after three centuries of accumulated poetical tradition by such great ancestors as 紀貫之（Ki-no-Tsurayuki）, 藤原公任（Fujiwara-no-Kintou） or 和泉式部（Izumi-shikibu）.

　If you have such literary perspective, you may be able to interpret this poem correctly as saying: “White snow still seems to remain scattered on the branches of cherry trees… it looks as if cherry blossom is coming out unusually late this year… oh, wait! I was wrong: the white thing on the cherry branches I took for snow was actually the cherry blossom! What a strange confusion… oh yeah, I now remember ― this is Yoshino-yama, famous for its fabulous snow and cherry blossom… how nicely I was taken in!”… Well, how about you? Nicely taken in, wisely smiling, or unhappily sullen?

　For those who don’t feel enough or who feel they’ve already had more than enough, here comes another puzzle by none other than 藤原定家（Fujiwara-no-Teika:1162-1241） ― that famous poet who chose the fabulous 『百人一首（Hyakunin-isshu = one hundred TANKA poems by one hundred different poets）』… I can almost vouch for it that you can’t make heads or tails out of this coming poem (without the help of someone who cites it here as a chimerical example)… if you doubt me, try to prove me wrong by interpreting it right:

《さくらいろのにはのはるかぜあともなし　とはばぞひとのゆきとだにみむ：sakura-iro no niwa no haru-kaze ato mo nashi towaba zo hito no yuki to dani mimu》『新古今集（Shin-Kokin-shuu）』春（Spring） No.134　桜色の庭の(in the garden tinged with cherry-white)春風跡も無し(the Spring wind leaves no trace)　訪はばぞ人の雪とだに見む(it is only when someone visits this garden that he may mistake it for snow)

　At first sight, this TANKA of 定家（Teika） looks kinder than 西行（Saigyou）’s, for this time it starts with the phrase “桜色の庭（sakura-iro no niwa = the garden tinged with cherry-white）”, denying the possibility of confusing the cherry-white with snow-white (be advised that the color of cherry flowers was “white”, not “pink” in Heian period). It is also evident that the scene takes place in the garden of someone’s house ― possibly Teika’s residence, not out in the field of Yoshino-yama like 西行（Saigyou）’s.

　The strange wind of confusion starts to blow with the second phrase: “春風跡も無し（haru-kaze ato mo nashi = the Spring wind leaves no trace）”… the Spring wind leaves no trace… of what?… What was swept away by the Spring wind?… The answer, you must be sure, is “桜（sakura）”; to be more exact, “庭に散り敷ける桜(niwa ni chirishikeru sakura = cherry flowers fallen on the garden)”… they have been completely blown away out of recognition by the Spring wind, you must think.

　But wait: if the Spring wind has already swept away the cherry flowers that covered the garden making it look like snow, isn’t it strange that Teika says “桜色の庭（sakura-iro no niwa = the garden tinged white with the fallen flowers of cherry）”? After the Spring wind has swept away the fallen flowers of cherry, the garden ― which looked like a snow-covered Winter garden ― must now look quite vacant: there will be no cherry, no snow, nothing interesting enough to stir up the poet’s imagination, don’t you think?

　Still, Teika insists on saying “桜色の庭（sakura-iro no niwa = the garden is tinged white with the fallen flowers of cherry）” at the same time lamenting that “跡も無し（ato mo nashi = there is no trace）”… if there was really “no trace of cherry flowers in the garden”, there could actually be “no garden tinged white with cherry flowers”… in that case, is the opening phrase “桜色の庭（sakura-iro no niwa = the garden tinged white with fallen cherry flowers）” a mere illusion, only existing in the memories of Teika reflecting upon the beautiful Spring scene that he was sorry to see go by only recently? Is he also lamenting in the closing phrase “訪はばぞ人の雪とだに見む（towaba zo hito no yuki to dani mimu）”, wishing that someone had come in time to see the white cherry-covered garden and mistake it for snow?… What a complicated imagination!

　If you suspected that much, you could rightfully be proud of your power of logical reasoning… but I’m sorry to announce that logicality alone does not guarantee success in the interpretation of Heianese TANKA, especially in that incredibly esoteric period called “新古今時代（Shin-Kokin-jidai… the age of Kokin-shuu-reinvented）”.

　If your imagination is not that profound and stops short at the sight of cherry flowers flying in the air like so many snow flakes, you will not have to wrack your brains so much as Teika intended and rest satisfied with the thought that Teika is merely sorry to see the cherry flowers fall as all the other ordinary human beings do.

　On second thought, however, the purely logical interpretation above is in fact absolutely nonsense ― please remember how firmly established was the stereotyped image of “cherry flowers confused with white snow” ― when everyone in Heian period knew that stale confusion too well, why should Teika lament the absence of visitors and wish if only they had seen the falling flowers of cherry or the white garden covered with them and had confused it with snow?… when in fact there could be practically nobody in Heian period ignorant enough of the time-honored tradition of “white confusion of cherry/snow/haze/clouds” to actually mistake the whiteness of Teika’s garden for snow?!

　Now that you have come to the scheduled dead-end (haven’t you?), it’s about time I threw in a lifeboat, constructed by none other than the father of Teika, 藤原俊成（Fujiwara-no-Shunzei:1114-1204）:

　《けふはもしきみもやとふとながむれど　まだあともなきにはのゆきかな：kyou wa moshi kimi moya tou to nagamuredo ato mo mada ato mo naki niwa no yuki kana》『新古今集（Shin-Kokin-shuu）』冬（Winter） No.664 今日は(today)もし(by any chance)君もや訪ふ(you might pay me a visit)と眺むれど(I’ve been idly hoping so and looking out vacantly but)未だ跡も無き庭の雪かな(my garden covered with white snow is still left intact, without being trodden by anyone coming in)

　Now you see, the answer to our question lies in the closing phrase of this poem ― “未だ跡も無き庭の雪かな（mada ato mo naki niwa no yuki kana = my garden covered with white snow is still left intact, without being trodden by anyone coming in）” ― if someone comes into a garden actually covered with white snow, there will be footsteps left as a trace of his visit. Likewise, if someone comes into a garden covered with cherry flowers and tinged white like snow, there will be footsteps left as a trace of his visit… or maybe not, actually, because cherry flowers and snow, though resembling in color, are materially quite different. But factual reality often gives way to sophisticated fancy in the imaginary world of “新古今集（Shin-Kokin-shuu）”. Whether or not there will actually be left traces of the footsteps of a visitor on the white carpet of cherry flowers fallen down on the garden does not really matter in this totally 新古今調（Shin-Kokinishtic） poem of Teika’s, for the emotional focus of attention is on the absence of any visitor, not on the white carpet of cherry flowers.

　The puzzling phrase in Teika’s TANKA “春風跡も無し(haru-kaze ato mo nashi = the Spring wind leaves no trace)” should thus be interpreted as “the cherry flowers fallen from trees and blown by the Spring wind to cover the garden like snow STILL SHOWS NO TRACE OF ANY VISITOR’S FOOTSTEPS (although I’ve been impatiently waiting)”. In the closing phrase “訪はばぞ人の雪とだに見む(towaba zo hito no yuki to dani mimu = it is only when someone visits this garden that he may mistake it for snow)”, Teika does not particularly wish that someone would confuse the cherry-white garden with a snow-white one (remember, no fools in Heian era would actually fall into such stale confusion!) but he merely laments the absence of a visitor with whom he could indulge in the time-honored (though hackneyed) tradition of confusing cherry-white with snow-white in this possibly interesting (yet actually forlorn) Spring garden. The troublesome term “春風（haru-kaze = Spring wind）” is induced here to show the impatience of Teika (Hurry, hurry, or the cherry-white garden might be completely swept away soon by the Spring wind!) although the garden in question is still left intact by the Spring wind, or by any human visitor for that matter, like the vacantly white snow in the garden of his father（俊成：Shunzei）’s TANKA.

　This type of indirect reference (or hazy allusion) to some other TANKA is called “本歌取り”（honka-dori = a poem including some borrowed words or phrases from something else）… or “本歌盗り”（honka-dori = a stolen poem from someone else’s original）when the reference sounds too blatantly direct. In the case of this particular TANKA of Teika(定家)’s, however, what is borrowed from the original poem of his father Shunzei(俊成)’s is not so much words (さくらいろの＜には＞のはるかぜ＜あともなし＞＜とはば＞ぞひとの＜ゆき＞とだにみむ　／　けふはもしきみもや＜とふ＞とながむれどまだ＜あともなき＞＜には＞のゆきかな) as the ambient mood of the whole poem itself, in which the poet is waiting in vain for someone to visit his garden and put his footsteps upon the lonely white carpet. In such cases, it is called “本説取り”（honsetsu-dori = a poem with a borrowed background from some other poem, story or legend）. Such borrowed images of “本歌取り”（honka-dori） or “本説取り”（honsetsu-dori） are only possible for those poets and readers who are proudly conscious of the rich literary heritage they have inherited from their famous great ancestors. 新古今(Shin-Kokin) poets were famous (or infamous) for aggressively trying to enrich and enlarge their 31-letter universe much larger than life by alluding to various parallel universes established by the long lines of poets and writers in three hundred years of literary accumulation.

　Needless to say, the reader has the liberty of instantaneous imagination of cherry flowers “merely flying in the air”, which is “the beaten path” for most modern readers to tread, but the poetic circumstances worthy to be called “a Shin-Kokin TANKA” should dictate that the cherry flowers “look just like snow covering the garden as a white carpet”, which the intricate explanation on the strength of Fujiwara-no-Shunzei’s TANKA should have convinced you… well, convinced or not, you are free to stick to your own version of imagination, which neither Teika nor this author (Jaugo Noto:之人冗悟) has any intention to meddle in, but it should at least be pointed out here that you should never try interpreting this authentic Shin-Kokin TANKA without trying earnestly to imagine how inextricably deep Teika’s profound intention can ever be. In case some persistent readers still insist upon my being wrong (in seeing the cherry flowers on the ground) and their being right (in seeing cherry flowers only in the air), I will simply say “Well, in that case, Teika will never say ‘あともなし（ato mo nashi:跡も無し = there’s no trace at all）’ in retrospect, but will instead say ‘あやもなし（aya mo nashi:文も無し = it’s no use at all）’ or ‘つれもなし（tsure mo nashi:つれもなし／連れも無し = it’s futile / I have no company）’ or ‘せんもなし（sen mo nashi:詮も無し = for what are they falling?）’ or ‘いとむなし（ito munashi:いと空し = I feel quite empty along with the vainly falling flowers）’ to let the cherry flowers fall not in his memory but currently in the air ― as I’ve already pointed out, there’s no sense in lamenting over ‘跡も無き物（ato mo naki mono = what is not there now）'”.

　Well, how do you feel now? … Yes, I know how you feel: this esoteric TANKA by 定家（Teika） feels not so much a poem as a puzzle ― a very tough jigsaw puzzle with the critical piece missing! Unless you have the advantage of having been acquainted with 俊成（Shunzei）’s TANKA I cited as the decisive hint (which is least likely, I’d guess), you have practically no hope of correctly interpreting Teika’s challenging riddle. And when you finally succeed in solving the puzzle, will you find yourself proud of your intellectual conquest, or should you find yourself disgusted at being forced to rack your brains with such esoteric questions? For your reference, such esoteric nature of 新古今(Shin-Kokin) poets received criticism from the more conventional groups of contemporary poets who called such intangible poems as I cited here “新儀非拠達磨歌（shingi hikyo daruma uta = a novel cult of poetry not in compliance with the authentic rules of traditional TANKA）”… such resentment to unduly exclusive esotericism of 新古今(Shin-Kokin) poems grew increasingly stronger in later years when most people naturally lost track of the intricate co-relations between a given poem and its great ancestors upon which its correct interpretation depended.

　I will not state here my personal likes or dislikes of 新古今（Shin-Kokin） TANKA; I will simply point out the fact that the so-called 八代集（hachidaishuu = eight great Imperial TANKA anthologies） ended with this 新古今集（Shin-Kokin-shuu）, although the sporadic tasks of publishing “Imperial TANKA anthologies” still went on afterwards by some group of poets representing their own factions of poetry (not quite representing TANKA of the day) until the mid-Muromachi（室町） period (A.D.1439).

　All in all, the once glorious art of TANKA practically breathed its last with the end of Heian period, culminating in 新古今集（Shin-Kokin-shuu: 1210-1216） as its swan song. The number of such esoteric black swans as 西行（Saigyou）’s or 定家（Teika）’s poems I cited here proves at once the thick layers of poetic tradition accumulated over 300 years… and the lethal thickness of artistic blood as a result of esoteric inbreeding among Heianese nobles in or around the Imperial Court of 京都（Kyoto）, to such a morbid extent as to make impossible the healthy survival of TANKA poetry as ordinary people’s natural national heritage.

　All good things must come to an end. The most exciting and hopeful though hardest stage of any career comes at the earliest stage. I will finish this article with several poems by 紀貫之（Ki-no-Tsurayuki） to show you what kind of freshly creative freedom was enjoyed in the early 10th century while TANKA poetry was still in its infancy, when such crudely explanatory TANKA as this one was still included in the first Imperial TANKA anthology 『古今集（Kokin-shuu：905）』 ― 《Yoshino-yama kiesenu yuki to mietsuru wa mine-tsuzuki saku sakura narikeri：よしのやまきえせぬゆきとみえつるは　みねつづきさくさくらなりけり》『古今集（Kokin-shuu）』春（Spring） No.41 よみ人しらず（annonymous）吉野山(on the mountains of Yoshino)消えせぬ雪と見えつるは(what looked like never-melting ＜snow＞)峰続き咲く桜なりけり(turned out to have been a line of ＜cherry trees＞ blooming on the ridge)

・・・Now, feast your eyes on the youngest ＜sakura-bana = cherry blossom＞ consciously confused with several ＜white Spring veils＞ at the deft hands of the greatest TANKA master of all time, 紀貫之（Ki-no-Tsurayuki）:

1)《sakura-bana saki ni kerashina ashihikino yama no kai yori miyuru shira-kumo：さくらばなさきにけらしなあしひきの　やまのかひよりみゆるしらくも》『古今集（Kokin-shuu）』春（Spring） No.59 桜花咲きにけらしな(＜cherry flowers＞ seem to have come out)足引の山の峡より見ゆる白雲(I see ＜white clouds＞ floating from the narrow chasm between mountains [as opposed to high up in the sky])

2)《shira-kumo to mietsuru monowo sakura-bana kyou wa chiru toya iro koto ni naru：しらくもとみえつるものをさくらばな　けふはちるとやいろことになる》『後撰集（Gosen-shuu）』春（Spring） No.119 白雲と見えつるものを(＜white clouds＞, yes, they surely looked like [yesterday])桜花今日は散るとや色異になる(today, not white [but spotted here and there with green]… does it mean ＜cherry flowers＞ are beginning to fall [on the ridge of the mountain I see far away]?)

3)《haru fukaku narinu to omou wo sakura-bana chiru ko no moto wa mada yuki zo furu：はるふかくなりぬとおもふをさくらばな　ちるこのもとはまだゆきぞふる》『拾遺集（Shuui-shuu）』春（Spring） No.63 春深くなりぬと思ふを(we are already deep in Spring, I thought, but)桜花散る木の本は(at the foot of ＜cherry＞ trees where ＜flowers＞ keep falling down)まだ雪ぞ降る(＜snow＞ still keeps falling [in a white warm veil of ＜sakura-bana＞])

4)《yuku mizu ni kaze no fukiiruru sakura-bana kiezu nagaruru yuki ka tozo miru：ゆくみづにかぜのふきいるるさくらばな　きえずながるるゆきかとぞみる》『古今集（Kokin-shuu）』春（Spring） No.114 行く水に(onto the surface of water going downstream)風の吹き入るる桜花(the wind has blown down ＜fallen cherry flowers＞)消えず流るる雪かとぞ見る＜they look like ＜unmelting snow＞ flowing down [from Winter to Spring]＞

5)《sakura-bana chirinuru kaze no nagori niwa mizu naki sora ni nami zo tachi keru：さくらばなちりぬるかぜのなごりには　みづなきそらになみぞたちける》『古今集（Kokin-shuu）』春（Spring） No.89 桜花散りぬる(＜cherry flowers＞ have all gone)風の名残には(leaving remnants in the wind)水無き空に(in the sky where there’s no water)波ぞ立ちける(＜[cherry-white] waves＞ surging in)

6)《yuki to mite nure moya suru to sakura-bana chiru ni tamoto wo kazukitsuru kana：ゆきとみてぬれもやするとさくらばな　ちるにたもとをかづきつるかな》『古今集（Kokin-shuu）』元永本＆清輔本のみ（only to be found in Ganei-bon & Kiyosuke-bon）春（Spring） No.81 雪と見て(just like ＜snow＞ it seemed)濡れもやすると(making me afraid lest I should get wet)桜花(in fact, it was ＜cherry blossom＞)散るに袂を潜きつるかな(making me wet with tears as I see it falling down [and say good-bye to this brief Spring])

　…Now you see, Springtime is the best of all, but sadly too short ― for flowers, for humans, and also for art…

Having an English-speaking self within you is just like having a conversation partner like Sayaka-san/Jaugo-san beside you.
We provide you not with actual conversation partners, but we enable you to engage in intellectually enticing conversation with Sayaka-san/Jaugo-san(…no mean feat, isn’t it?)

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