the falling snow must
be melting even as it falls—
for from the mountain
the sound of rushing waters
grows ever louder now
- Meaning
- The falling snow must be melting as it falls—for the sound of the mountain torrent grows ever louder.
- Commentary
-
Book Six Winter Poems
The poet hears the increased sound of the rushing stream and imagines that the falling snow is melting at once and flowing into the waters below.
The quiet image of falling snow is set against the forceful sound of the torrent, creating a contrast that lends the poem a somewhat reflective, reasoning tone.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- as evening falls on my sleeves grow cold with the chill— in fair Yoshino upon the mountain slopes snow must be falling now
- from this moment on may it go on falling still— in my humble yard pressing down the silver grass the white snow that has begun
- even in this stream crimson leaves are flowing down— from the deep mountains the water from melting snow must now have greatly swelled
- my old dwelling lies so near to Mount Yoshino— not even a day passes without falling snow gracing it from the heavens