Furu yuki wa awa ni na furi so yonabari no ikai no oka no seki nasamaku ni

降る雪はあはにな降りそ吉隠の
猪養の岡の塞なさまくに

Roma-ji: Furu yuki wa awa ni na furi so yonabari no ikai no oka no seki nasamaku ni
English Translation: O you falling snow,
do not come down so thickly—
at Yonabari,
on the hill of Ikai,
you would make a barrier.
Meaning: O falling snow, do not come down so heavily, for you would make a barrier on the hill of Ikai at Yonabari.
Commentary: Book Two Elegies 203

Headnote: "A poem composed by Prince Hozumi, weeping in grief, when after the death of Princess Tajima he gazed from afar at her tomb on a winter day as snow was falling"
Gazing from afar at the late Princess Tajima's tomb on a snowy day, he begs the snow not to fall so heavily that it blocks the way to the hill where she lies.
According to the headnote, after Princess Tajima's death, Prince Hozumi, looking toward her distant tomb on a winter day as snow fell, composed this poem in tears.
The author, Prince Hozumi, was a son of Emperor Tenmu; his mother was Ōnu no Iratsume, a daughter of Soga no Akae. He later served as Chief Executive of the Council of State.
Poems 114 to 116 of this book record Princess Tajima's longing for Prince Hozumi, and this poem answers them as the end of that love, told from the prince's side. The princess crossed a morning river to reach her lover; now the prince is kept from her grave by snow, an inverted pairing.

The first line, "furu yuki wa," means "you falling snow," opening as though addressing the snow.
In the second line, "awa ni na furi so," awa ni means abundantly, and na ... so expresses prohibition: do not fall so thickly. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "yonabari no," names a place east of Hatsuse in Yamato.
The fourth line, "ikai no oka no," is said to be the hill where Princess Tajima's tomb stood.
In the final line, "seki nasamaku ni," seki is a barrier that blocks the way, maku is the nominalized form of mu, and ni gives the reason: for it would become a barrier.
Author: Prince Hozumi
Source: Manyoshu
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