木綿四手の風に乱るる音冴えて
庭白妙に雪ぞ積もれる
庭白妙に雪ぞ積もれる
- Roma-ji
-
Yūshide no kaze ni midaruru oto saete niwa shirotae ni yuki zo tsumoreru
- English Translation
-
Bark-cloth streamers toss,
tangled in the winter wind,
the sound rings cold and clear;
the shrine yard pure white as cloth
where the snow has piled deep.
- Meaning
- The sound of bark-cloth streamers tossed in the wind rings cold and clear, and in the shrine yard the snow lies piled pure white.
- Commentary
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Book Nineteen Poems on the Gods 1890
Headnote: "Composed on the topic "Snow at the shrine.""
This poem on snow at a shrine is placed among the poems on the Kamo Shrines. The sound of bark-cloth streamers tossed in the wind rings cold and clear, and snow lies piled pure white in the shrine yard. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Snow at the shrine." With the chill of sound and the whiteness of snow, it depicts the purity of the sacred precinct in winter.
The author, "Azechi Kinmichi," the Inspector, is Fujiwara no Kinmichi. A son of Saionji Michisue, he served as Inspector.
The first line, "yūshide no," means "of the bark-cloth streamers" hung on sakaki branches and sacred ropes.
The second line, "kaze ni midaruru," means "tossed in the wind."
The third line, "oto saete," means "the sound ringing cold and clear." The winter chill is caught by sound before the visible scene.
The fourth line, "niwa shirotae ni," means "the shrine yard pure white"; "shirotae" is white cloth, and by extension the color white.
The last line, "yuki zo tsumoreru," means "the snow has piled up," closing the particle "zo" with the attributive "ru" of the continuative "ri" in kakari-musubi. It shares "sayu," "to be cold and clear," with "tsuki sayuru" in the preceding poem, continuing the chill scene of the sacred precinct in winter.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Kinmichi
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Tsuki sayuru Mitarashigawa ni kage miete kōri ni sureru yamaai no sode
- Next Poem
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Kimi o inoru kokoro no iro o hito towaba Tadasu no miya no ake no tamagaki