Yamakawa no iwa yuku mizu mo kōri shite hitori kudakuru mine no matsukaze - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

山川の岩行く水も氷して
ひとり砕くる峰の松風

Roma-ji: Yamakawa no iwa yuku mizu mo kōri shite hitori kudakuru mine no matsukaze
English Translation: The mountain stream, too,
that ran among the rocks,
has turned into ice—
all alone, it breaks and roars,
the pine wind upon the peaks.
Meaning: Even the water running among the rocks of the mountain stream has frozen—now only the pine wind on the peak breaks and roars alone.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1577

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the first poem of the sequence on winter. Even the water running among the rocks of the mountain stream has frozen, and now only the pine wind on the peak roars alone as if breaking. The headnote reads "topic unknown," and records nothing of the circumstances of composition.
The author is "anonymous," and the name has not come down to us.

The first line, "yamakawa no," refers to a river flowing through the mountains.
The second line, "iwa yuku mizu mo," refers to water flowing among the rocks. It is a stream that usually breaks and sounds against the rocks.
The third line, "kōri shite," means "freezing." It shows the arrival of winter, and from here poems on winter follow.
The fourth line, "hitori kudakuru," means "breaking alone with a roar." The water that normally breaks and sounds against the rocks has frozen and lost its voice, and in its place only the pine wind roars as if breaking.
The last line, "mine no matsukaze," ends on a noun. It captures the change in the sounds of the winter mountains, from the sound of water to the sound of the pine wind.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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