When white snow falls
thick and without cease, then in
fair Yoshino's hills
by the wind from down the slopes
flowers are scattered away

Meaning

When the white snow falls thick and without cease, it seems as though flowers are being scattered by the wind blowing down from the slopes of Yoshino Mountain.

Commentary

Book Seven: Poems of Celebration

A winter poem written on a folding screen placed behind the seats at the fortieth birthday celebration banquet of Fujiwara no Sadakuni, the Right Captain, where paintings of the four seasons were depicted.

The poem portrays falling snow as if it were flower petals scattered through the air by the strong wind descending from the mountains.

Author

Ki no Tsurayuki

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Other

the plovers are calling mist rises on the Saho River— it must be so now even the leaves upon the hills grow deeper in their autumn hues
autumn has come now yet unchanged in hue remains Mount Tokiwa still— so the wind must borrow leaves of scarlet from distant hills

When white snow falls thick and without cease, then in fair Yoshino's hills by the wind from down the slopes flowers are scattered away

When white snow falls
thick and without cease, then in
fair Yoshino's hills
by the wind from down the slopes
flowers are scattered away