Ubatama no waga kurokami ya kawaru ramu kagami no kage ni fureru shirayuki - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

うばたまのわが黒かみやかはるらむ
鏡の影に降れる白雪

Roma-ji: Ubatama no waga kurokami ya kawaru ramu kagami no kage ni fureru shirayuki
English Translation: My hair, black as jet—
has it changed its color now,
I wonder?—for there
in the image in my mirror
lies a fall of whitest snow.
Meaning: Has my hair, once black as jet, changed its color? In the figure reflected in my mirror, white snow has fallen.
Commentary: Book Ten Names of Things 460

Headnote: "Kamiya River"
This poem wonders whether the speaker's black hair has changed, for white snow seems to have fallen on the figure in the mirror. The title "Kamiyagawa" (Kamiya River) is hidden in "kami ya kawa" across the second and third lines. The Kamiya River flows through Kitano in Kyoto. It laments old age by likening white hair to snow, and from here poems titled with the names of rivers follow.
The poet, "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. A son of Ki no Mochiyuki, he was the leading compiler of the Kokinshu and wrote its Kana Preface. He is also known as the author of the Tosa Diary.

First line "Ubatama no" is a pillow word modifying "black," intensifying the blackness of the hair.
Second line "waga kurokami ya" means "my black hair," with the interrogative particle "ya." The title begins with "kami ya."
Third line "kawaru ramu" closes in the attributive "ramu" in answer to "ya," wondering whether it has changed. With the second line, "kami ya kawa" hides the title "Kamiyagawa." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line "kagami no kage ni" means "in the figure reflected in the mirror."
Fifth line "fureru shirayuki" ends on a noun, closing by likening white hair to fallen snow.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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