Ume no hana chiraku wa izuku shikasuga ni kono ki no yama ni yuki wa furitsutsu

梅の花散らくはいづくしかすがに
この城の山に雪は降りつつ

Roma-ji: Ume no hana chiraku wa izuku shikasuga ni kono ki no yama ni yuki wa furitsutsu
English Translation: The plum blossoms, where
is it that they are falling?
And yet, all the same,
on the hill of the castle here
the snow keeps on falling down
Meaning: Where is it that the plum blossoms are falling? And yet, even so, snow keeps falling on the castle hill.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 823

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thirty-two poems on plum blossoms, with preface"
The poet asks where the plums are falling, and yet snow is falling on the castle hill. Responding to the host Tabito's preceding poem, which likened falling blossoms to snow, he points out that real snow is falling on the mountain, showing a wit that lets the whole company enjoy the conceit.
This is one of the thirty-two poems of the Plum Blossom Banquet, held on the thirteenth day of the first month of Tenpyō 2, when officials of Dazaifu and provincial governors of Kyushu gathered at the residence of the Governor-General Ōtomo no Tabito and composed poems on the plum trees in his garden. The Chinese preface describes how, in the auspicious first month of early spring, the air was fine and the breeze gentle, the plums opened white like face powder before a mirror, and the orchids gave off a scent like a perfume sachet; it is also famous as the source of the era name Reiwa. The preface closes by proposing that, just as Chinese poetry has its pieces on falling plum blossoms, the company should compose short poems on the garden plums. The poem is signed "Senior Inspector Tomo no Momoyo"; the Senior Inspector was the higher of Dazaifu's inspectors, and "Tomo" renders the Ōtomo name in single-character Chinese fashion.
The poet, Ōtomo no Momoyo, was an official of the Ōtomo clan serving at this time as Senior Inspector of Dazaifu.

First line, "ume no hana": takes up the preceding poem's "the plum blossoms fall."
Second line, "chiraku wa izuku": "chiraku" means "their falling": where is it they fall? The poem breaks here.
Third line, "shikasuga ni": "and yet," accepting the conceit of the preceding poem while turning to the actual scene.
Fourth line, "kono ki no yama ni": "the castle hill" is a mountain near Dazaifu with a fortress on it, identified as either Mount Ōno or Mount Kizan.
Fifth line, "yuki wa furitsutsu": "tsutsu" marks continuation, snow falling on and on. Against the host's "snow flowing down from heaven," it answers by pointing to real snow, forming a matched pair.
Author: Ōtomo no Momoyo
Source: Manyoshu
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