Matsukage no asaji no ue no shirayuki o ketazute okamu koto wa kamo naki

松蔭の浅茅の上の白雪を
消たずて置かむことはかもなき

Roma-ji: Matsukage no asaji no ue no shirayuki o ketazute okamu koto wa kamo naki
English Translation: In the shade of pines,
upon the low reeds lying,
the white snow resting:
to keep it without melting,
is there no way at all?
Meaning: The white snow lying on the low reeds in the shade of the pines: is there no way to keep it there without letting it melt?
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Miscellaneous Poems 1654

Headnote: "A poem on snow by Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue"
The poet wishes there were some way to keep the white snow on the low reeds in the shade of the pines without letting it melt. Cherishing a scene where the green of the pines and the whiteness of the snow on the reeds set each other off, she expresses a wish to hold it fast. The poem stands last among the winter miscellaneous poems.
The author, Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue, was a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and a half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito. She was the aunt of Ōtomo no Yakamochi and later also his mother-in-law, and she left many poems in the Man'yōshū.

The first line means "in the shade of the pines," where the sun does not reach and snow lingers.
The second line means "upon the low cogon grass."
The third line names the white snow lying on the reeds.
The fourth line means "to keep it without letting it melt." Ōtomo no Yakamochi's 1572 in this book also wishes to keep white dew "without letting it vanish," so the wish to hold fleeting things, dew and snow, answers across autumn and winter.
The final line, containing the interrogative "ka" and exclamatory "mo," laments: is there no way?
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Manyoshu
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