Uchikirai yuki wa furitsutsu shikasuga ni wagie no sono ni uguisu naku mo

うち霧らひ雪は降りつつしかすがに
我家の苑に鴬鳴くも

Roma-ji: Uchikirai yuki wa furitsutsu shikasuga ni wagie no sono ni uguisu naku mo
English Translation: Clouding all around,
the snow keeps on falling down,
and yet all the same,
in the garden of my home
the warbler is singing
Meaning: Snow keeps falling, clouding everything around, and yet, in the garden of my home, a warbler is singing.
Commentary: Book Eight Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1441

Headnote: "A poem on the warbler by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi"
Even as snow keeps falling and clouds the air, a warbler sings in the poet's garden. The joy of hearing a sign of spring in the midst of winter turns on the single word "shikasuga ni."
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was a son of Ōtomo no Tabito and an official of the Nara period. He rose to the post of Middle Counselor, is thought to have been closely involved in compiling the Man'yōshū, and left more poems than anyone else in the anthology.
The text gives the first line as "uchikirai," which does not match "uchikirashi" in the reading line; here the text is followed.

In the first line, "uchi" is a prefix, and the line depicts snow clouding the air all around.
The second line, with the continuative "tsutsu," shows that snow is still falling. It is the same as the final line of 1427 in this book; where that poem shows impatience for spring, this one finds spring within the snow, so the same scene is received in contrasting ways.
The third line, "shikasuga ni," meaning "and yet all the same," is the pivot that turns from the winter scene of the upper verse to the spring voice of the lower.
The fourth line names the garden of the poet's home.
The final line, with the exclamatory "mo," expresses wonder at the warbler's voice ringing through the snow. Warblers also appear in 1431 and 1443 of this book.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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