Shirayuki no yae furishikeru kaeruyama kaerugaeru mo oinikeru kana - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

白雪の八重降りしけるかへる山
かへるがへるも老いにけるかな

Roma-ji: Shirayuki no yae furishikeru kaeruyama kaerugaeru mo oinikeru kana
English Translation: White snow lies
eightfold deep upon
Mount Kaeru—
again and yet again
how old I have become.
Meaning: White snow lies heaped eightfold upon Mount Kaeru, and again and again, as its name says, I realize how old I have become.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 902

Headnote: "A poem from the poetry contest held at the Empress's palace in the Kanpyō era"
This poem was composed for a poetry contest held in the reign of Emperor Uda at the palace of the Empress Dowager Hanshi. Using Mount Kaeru in Echizen, deep in snow, as an introduction, the poet overlays the whiteness of the snow on white hair and laments that, again and again, he has grown old.
The author, "Ariwara no Muneyana," is Ariwara no Muneyana, a son of Ariwara no Narihira who served as governor of Chikuzen and other posts. He was the father of the poet Ariwara no Motokata.

First line "shirayuki no" evokes white hair through the whiteness of the snow.
Second line "yae furishikeru" means lying heaped in many layers, suggesting accumulated years.
Third line "kaeruyama" is a pivot word that is both Mount Kaeru, a poetic place in Echizen, and a lead into kaeru; the first three lines form a preface to kaerugaeru.
Fourth line "kaerugaeru mo" means again and again, repeating the sound of Mount Kaeru.
Fifth line "oinikeru kana" is the same last line as poem 894 in this book, echoing within the group on age.
Author: Ariwara no Muneyoshi
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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