Fuji no ne ni furioku yuki wa minazuki no mochi ni kenureba sono yo furikeri

富士の嶺に降り置く雪は六月の
十五日に消ぬればその夜降りけり

Roma-ji: Fuji no ne ni furioku yuki wa minazuki no mochi ni kenureba sono yo furikeri
English Translation: On the peak of Fuji
the snow that has fallen deep—
in the sixth month,
when it melts on the full-moon day,
that same night it falls again.
Meaning: The snow lying on the peak of Fuji melts on the fifteenth day of the sixth month—and that very night, they say, it falls again.
Commentary: Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 320

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem with tanka on Mount Fuji" — "Envoy"
This is the first of the envoys to a long poem on Mount Fuji. Even if the snow melts on the fifteenth day of the sixth month, midsummer, new snow falls that very night—so the poem shows, in the manner of a local legend, how Fuji's snow never vanishes all year round. Taking up the grand praise of the long poem, it presents Fuji's mystery as a concrete tale.
The author is not named in the headnote, but the left note to the next poem says this group comes from among the poems of Takahashi no Muraji Mushimaro and is placed here because of its similar theme, so it is attributed to Mushimaro.
The poet, Takahashi no Mushimaro, was a Nara-period poet thought to have served in the province of Hitachi; because he composed many long poems on the legends of the eastern provinces, he is known as a poet of legends.

First line "On the peak of Fuji" names the summit.
Second line "the snow that has fallen deep" means the snow lying there.
Third line "in the sixth month" is midsummer in the old calendar.
Fourth line "when it melts on the full-moon day": the fifteenth is read mochi, the day of the full moon. Kenureba means "when it has melted"; the line has one syllable too many.
Fifth line "that same night it falls again": keri expresses hearsay wonder—"so they say." It ends by relating the mystery of a Fuji never without snow even in summer.
Author: Takahashi no Mushimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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