Tachiyama no yuki shi kurashi mo Haitsuki no kawa no watarise abumi tsukasu mo

立山の雪し消らしも延槻の
川の渡り瀬鐙漬かすも

Roma-ji: Tachiyama no yuki shi kurashi mo Haitsuki no kawa no watarise abumi tsukasu mo
English Translation: On Tachiyama
the snows must now be melting:
in the Haitsuki,
at the shallows where we cross,
the water wets our stirrups
Meaning: The snows of Tachiyama must be melting now—at the ford of the Haitsuki River the water rises to soak our stirrups.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 4024

Headnote: "A poem composed when crossing the Haitsuki River in Niikawa District"
The water at the Haitsuki ford rises to wet the stirrups, so the snows of Tachiyama must be melting—a poem inferring the thaw on Tachiyama from the spring river. This is one of the poems Yakamochi composed in the spring of 748 on what he saw at each time and place while touring the districts of Etchū to administer suiko, the system of lending seed rice in spring to be repaid with interest after the autumn harvest, for which provincial governors traveled through their territory. From the swollen water before him he imagines the snowmelt on the distant mountain, capturing the workings of majestic nature.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of the Major Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito. Appointed Governor of Etchū in 746, he spent five years there, later serving as Junior Counselor and Governor of Inaba before rising to Middle Counselor. He is thought to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū.
The left note reads, "The above poems were composed by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi on what met his eye at each time and place while touring the districts for the spring rice loans."

First line, "Tachiyama no": Tachiyama, rising in Niikawa District, the mountain Yakamochi praised in his "Rhapsody on Mount Tachiyama."
Second line, "yuki shi kurashi mo": shi is emphatic, ku means to melt, rashi expresses inference from evidence, and mo is exclamatory—"the snow must be melting." The poem pauses here, giving the evidence below. In contrast to 4001, which praised snow that lasts through summer, it sings of the spring thaw.
Third line, "Haitsuki no": the Haitsuki River, thought to be today's Hayatsuki River.
Fourth line, "kawa no watarise": the shallows where the river is forded.
Fifth line, "abumi tsukasu mo": abumi are stirrups; "the water soaks them," mo being exclamatory.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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