Kyō furishi yuki ni kioite waga yado no fuyuki no ume wa hana sakinikeri

今日降りし雪に競ひて我が宿の
冬木の梅は花咲きにけり

Roma-ji: Kyō furishi yuki ni kioite waga yado no fuyuki no ume wa hana sakinikeri
English Translation: With the snow today
that fell, as if competing,
in my garden here
the plum on the winter tree
has burst into its flowers
Meaning: As if vying with the snow that fell today, the bare winter plum tree in my garden has burst into flower.
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Miscellaneous Poems 1649

Headnote: "A poem on snow and plum by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi"
As if vying with the snow that fell today, the bare winter plum in his garden has come into flower. In a scene where white snow and white plum seem to compete in whiteness, the poet rejoices at a sign of spring arriving within winter.
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 first line means "that fell today."
The second line, "vying with the snow," personifies the whiteness of snow and plum.
The third line names his own garden.
The fourth line means "the plum on the bare winter tree." Kose no Sukunamaro's 1645 in this book mistakes snow on winter trees for plum blossoms, whereas in this poem the plum has really bloomed on the winter tree.
The final line, with the perfective "ni" and exclamatory "keri," expresses wonder at the blossoming. Abe no Hironiwa's 1423 in this book ends with the same line, rejoicing at a young transplanted plum's first flowers, so poems rejoicing at plum blossoms answer each other across spring and winter.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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