Hana to chiri tama to mietsutsu azamukeba yuki furusato zo yume ni miekeru - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

花と散り玉と見えつつあざむけば
雪ふるさとぞ夢に見えける

Roma-ji: Hana to chiri tama to mietsutsu azamukeba yuki furusato zo yume ni miekeru
English Translation: Scattering like blossoms,
seeming like jewels all the while,
it deceives my eyes,
so the home where snow falls now
came to me within a dream.
Meaning: The snow scatters like blossoms and looks like jewels, deceiving my eyes, and so my old home, where the snow falls, appeared to me in a dream.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1695

Headnote: "Snow."
A poem on the topic of snow, this is the sixth of Sugawara no Michizane's twelve poems on one-character topics. Beguiled by snow that scatters like blossoms and glitters like jewels, he sees his snowy old home in a dream. It shows his longing, in exile, for his house in the capital.
The author, "Kan Zō Daijō Daijin," is Sugawara no Michizane. No author is named in the original; the attribution continues from the preceding poem. The son of Sugawara no Koreyoshi and renowned as a scholar and poet in Chinese, he rose to Minister of the Right but under Emperor Daigo was demoted to Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu and died in exile. Because he was posthumously granted the office of Chancellor, he is referred to by this title.

The first line, "hana to chiri," likens the falling snow to blossoms, a comparison found widely in waka.
The second line, "tama to mietsutsu," sees the snow as white jewels as well. "Tsutsu" marks repetition, the snow looking now like blossoms, now like jewels.
The third line, "azamukeba," means "since it deceives the eyes." "Ba" after the realis form gives a cause, presenting the snow's trickery as what brings on the dream.
In the fourth line, "yuki furusato zo," "furu" is a pivot word, meaning both "snow falls" and, in "furusato," "old village," that is, home. A single word turns the scene of snow into home.
The last line, "yume ni miekeru," closes the kakari-musubi of "zo" in the fourth line with "keru," the attributive form of "keri." The mind beguiled by the snow's likenesses passes straight into a dream of home.
Author: Sugawara no Michizane
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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