たな霧らひ雪も降らぬか梅の花
咲かぬが代にそへてだに見む
咲かぬが代にそへてだに見む
- Roma-ji
-
Tanagirai yuki mo furanu ka ume no hana sakanu ga shiro ni soete dani mimu
- English Translation
-
Clouding all the sky,
will the snow not come falling?
The plum blossoms here
have not yet bloomed, so in their place
I'd gaze on snow as flowers
- Meaning
- Will snow not fall, clouding all the sky? Since the plum has not yet bloomed, I would at least gaze on the snow in place of its flowers.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Winter Miscellaneous Poems 1642
Headnote: "A poem on snow by Abe no Ason Okimichi"
Since the plum has not yet bloomed, the poet wishes that snow would fall, clouding the sky, so that he might at least gaze on the snow as if it were the flowers. His impatience for the blossoms shows itself as a wish to see snow as flowers.
The author, Abe no Okimichi, was an official of the Nara period.
The first line describes the whole sky clouded over with mist or cloud.
The second line is a wish formed by the negative "nu" with "ka": will snow not fall? The poem pauses here. The next poem, 1643, has the same second line, so poems awaiting snow are placed in succession.
The third line names the plum that has not yet bloomed.
In the fourth line, "shiro" means "in place of," so the line means "in place of their not blooming."
The final line means "I would gaze, likening it at least," "dani" expressing a modest wish.
- Author
- Abe no Okimichi
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Awayuki ni furaete sakeru ume no hana kimi gari yaraba yosoetemu kamo
- Next Poem
-
Amagirashi yuki mo furanu ka ichishiroku kono itsushiba ni furamaku o mimu