Toko no shimo makura no kōri kiewabinu musubi mo okanu hito no chigiri ni - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

床の霜枕の氷消えわびぬ
結びもおかぬ人の契りに

Roma-ji: Toko no shimo makura no kōri kiewabinu musubi mo okanu hito no chigiri ni
English Translation: Frost upon the bed,
ice upon the pillow, they
cannot melt away,
for the one who never bound
a vow that we might keep.
Meaning: The frost upon my bed and the ice upon my pillow cannot melt away, because of the vow that the one I love never bound.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 1137

Headnote: "Love in Winter."
This is the second of two poems on love linked to the seasons. Because the beloved never bound a vow, the frost on the bed and the ice on the pillow of one who sleeps alone cannot melt. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Love in Winter," which follows the "Love in Spring" of the preceding poem.
The author is Fujiwara no Teika; "Ason" in the original name is an honorific for officials of the fifth rank and above. He was the son of Fujiwara no Shunzei and one of the compilers of the Shin Kokinshū.

The first line, "toko no shimo," is frost settling on the bed, speaking of the cold of a bed slept in alone and of tears freezing. Here the "winter" of the topic "Love in Winter" is shown.
The second line, "makura no kōri," is ice of tears frozen onto the pillow. The first two lines build a pair, "frost on the bed" and "ice on the pillow."
The third line, "kiewabinu," means "cannot melt away," and the poem breaks after the third line. Frost and ice that will not melt are laid over a heart that cannot fade away in love.
The fourth line, "musubi mo okanu," means "never bound," layering the "binding" of frost and ice with the "binding" of a vow.
The last line, "hito no chigiri ni," means "because of the beloved's vow," and through inversion it returns to the third line. Where the preceding poem set the misted moon of spring in tears, here winter frost and ice are bound on bed and pillow as tears, and the loves of spring and winter form a pair.
Author: Fujiwara no Teika
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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