Sayo fukete koe sae samuki ashitazu wa ikue no shimo ka okimasaruran

English Translation

Deep into the night
even their cries sound cold—
the cranes among the reeds:
how many layers of frost
must be settling on them now?

Meaning

The night has grown late, and even the cries of the cranes among the reeds sound cold—how many layers of frost must be settling upon them?

Commentary

Book Six Winter Poems 613

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the third poem of the frost-and-withering sequence. Hearing the cold cries of the cranes among the reeds late at night, the speaker wonders how many layers of frost must be settling on them. The headnote continues from the preceding poem with no topic given, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Michinobu Ason," is Fujiwara no Michinobu. A son of the Chancellor Fujiwara no Tamemitsu, he was adopted by Fujiwara no Kaneie. He excelled at poetry but died young.
The scene is late on a frosty winter night, and the place is a waterside where reeds grow.
The direct occasion is not recorded.

The first line, "sayo fukete," means "the night having grown late," with "sa" as a prefix that smooths the rhythm.
The second line, "koe sae samuki," means "even their cries are cold," with "sae" as an adverbial particle of addition. Beyond the cold of the frosty night, even the cries sound cold.
The third line, "ashitazu wa," refers to cranes at a waterside where reeds grow.
In the fourth line, "ikue no shimo ka," "ka" is an interrogative particle corresponding to "ran" in the last line.
The last line, "okimasaruran," means "must it be settling ever more thickly?" closing with the attributive form of the conjectural auxiliary "ran." From the coldness of the cries, the poem infers the unseen layers of frost on the cranes' feathers. Where the preceding poem wondered about birds gone into the sky from the withered reeds, this poem thinks of cranes that remain at the waterside on a frosty night, setting side by side the whereabouts of birds and the plight of birds.

Author

Fujiwara no Michinobu

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other