What is it, but a dream?

What is it, but a dream?

“What is it but a dream?
The blooming as well
Lasts only seven cycles”

This famous haiku by Hakuen reflects the cherry blossoms in spring and his life. This haiku refers to the seven day life of the cherry blossom (seven cycles), which also reflect the seven decades of his life, as he died in 1806 at the age of sixty-six.