Furisomuru kesa dani hito no mataretsuru miyama no sato no yuki no yūgure

English Translation

Even this morning,
when the snow began to fall,
I found myself longing for a visitor—
in a deep mountain village
the snow at dusk

Meaning

Even this morning, when the snow had only begun to fall, I found myself waiting for someone to come—how much more now, in this deep mountain village, at dusk in the snow.

Commentary

Book Six Winter Poems 663

Headnote: "Composed on snow for a poetry contest at the house of the Lay Monk Former Regent when he was Minister of the Right."
This is the seventh poem of the snow sequence. Even this morning, when the snow had just begun, a visitor was longed for; how much more in a deep mountain village at dusk in the snow. According to the headnote, it was composed on snow for a poetry contest at the house of Kujō Kanezane when he was Minister of the Right.
The author, "Jakuren Hōshi," is Jakuren. His lay name was Fujiwara no Sadanaga; a nephew of Fujiwara no Shunzei, he was adopted as Shunzei's son but later took holy orders. He was chosen as a compiler of the Shin Kokin Wakashū but died before the compilation was completed.
The scene is dusk after snow has piled up, and the place is a village deep in the mountains.
The direct occasion is the topic "Snow" at a poetry contest held at the house of Kujō Kanezane when he was Minister of the Right. "Lay Monk Former Regent" is a title for Kanezane, who later became Regent and took holy orders.

The first line, "furisomuru," means "when the snow began to fall" and modifies "kesa," this morning, in the second line.
In the second line, "kesa dani hito no," "dani" is an adverbial particle that names a lesser case to suggest a greater: "even this morning."
The third line, "mataretsuru," means "I found myself waiting," with "re" as the continuative form of the spontaneous auxiliary "ru" and "tsuru" as the attributive form of the perfective auxiliary "tsu." The poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "miyama no sato no," means "of a village deep in the mountains."
The last line, "yuki no yūgure," closes on a noun, naming dusk in the snow. Through "dani," the poem implies without saying it that if a visitor was longed for even this morning when the snow had just begun, how much more now at dusk when the snow has piled up and closed the paths. It shares with 627 in this book, which sought a kindred spirit in a winter mountain village, the loneliness of waiting for someone in a snowy mountain village, and it moves from first snow on hillside pines in the preceding poem to dusk in a snowbound mountain village. The next poem, 664, likewise sings of waiting for a visitor on a snowy morning.

Author

Jakuren

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other