Hatsuyuki no furu no kamisugi uzumorete shime yuu nobe wa fuyugomori seri

English Translation

The first snow falls
and the sacred cedars of Furu
lie buried deep;
the fields bound with sacred ropes
have shut themselves in for winter

Meaning

As the first snow falls, the sacred cedars of Furu lie buried, and the fields marked off with sacred ropes have withdrawn into their winter seclusion.

Commentary

Book Six Winter Poems 660

Headnote: "When I composed many winter poems."
This is the fourth poem of the snow sequence. The sacred cedars of Furu lie buried under the first snow, and the fields bound with sacred ropes have withdrawn into winter seclusion. According to the headnote, it was composed on an occasion of writing many winter poems.
The author, "Provisional Middle Counselor Nagakata," is Fujiwara no Nagakata. A son of Fujiwara no Akinaga, he rose to Provisional Middle Counselor.
The scene is winter as the first snow falls, and the place is Furu in Isonokami, Yamato Province.
The direct occasion is the composition of many winter poems.

The first line, "hatsuyuki no," means "of the first snow" and modifies "furu" in the second line.
In the second line, "furu no kamisugi," "furu" carries both the first snow "falling" and "Furu" in Isonokami, a poetic place in Yamato Province. Furu lies around the Isonokami Shrine in present-day Tenri, Nara Prefecture, and its god-dwelling cedars were often sung. It is the same phrase as "furu no kamisugi" in the last line of 581 in this book.
The third line, "uzumorete," means "buried in snow." From the buried eaves of the bamboo hut in the poems before, it moves to buried sacred cedars.
The fourth line, "shime yuu nobe wa," means "the fields bound with sacred ropes," ropes stretched to mark off sacred ground.
The last line, "fuyugomori seri," means "have withdrawn into winter seclusion," with "ri" as the auxiliary of continuance. The sacred fields covered in snow are personified as having shut themselves in for winter like creatures that hide away through the cold. Where 581 in this book asked what would become of the green of Furu's sacred cedars unable to hold out against the showers, here the same cedars lie buried under the first snow, so that the passage of winter from showers to snow is shown upon the same sacred cedars of Furu.

Author

Fujiwara no Nagakata

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other