冬ながら空より花の散りくるは
雲のあなたは春にやあるらむ
雲のあなたは春にやあるらむ
- Roma-ji
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Fuyu nagara sora yori hana no chirikuru wa
kumo no anata wa haru ni ya aruramu - English Translation
-
though it is winter
from the sky flowers scatter down—
is it that beyond
those clouds, far out of sight,
spring has already come to be
- Meaning
- Though it is winter, flowers seem to fall from the sky—perhaps beyond the clouds it has already become spring.
- Commentary
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Book Six Winter Poems
This poem was composed on seeing falling snow.
The image of snow likened to flowers has been used since the Man’yōshū; the poet must have felt in the falling snow the beauty of blossoms scattering. Since it says, “beyond the clouds, might it be spring,” one may also take it that, longing for spring, the poet mistakes the snow for flowers, giving the poem a light, almost playful tone.
The poet, Kiyohara no Fukayabu, is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets, and is also known as the great-grandfather of Sei Shōnagon, author of The Pillow Book.
- Author
- Fukayabu
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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