Kakikurashi yuki wa furi tsutsu shikasuga ni waga ie no sono ni uguisu zo naku - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

かきくらし雪は降りつつしかすがに
我が家の園に鴬ぞ鳴く

Roma-ji: Kakikurashi yuki wa furi tsutsu shikasuga ni waga ie no sono ni uguisu zo naku
English Translation: Darkening the sky,
the snow keeps falling, falling,
and yet even so
within the garden of my house
the warbler is singing
Meaning: Snow keeps falling, darkening the whole sky, and yet, even so, a warbler is singing in the garden of my house.
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems I 33

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
Amid snow falling thick enough to darken the sky, a warbler sings in the poet's garden, capturing the lingering winter and the coming of spring at once. Contrasting the seasonal images of snow and warbler, the poem vividly portrays the turn of the seasons.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
Book Eight of the Man'yōshū contains a poem by Ōtomo no Yakamochi telling that though the snow keeps falling under a clouded sky, the warbler sings in his garden, and this poem closely resembles it.

The first line, "Darkening the sky," depicts the heavy snowfall that dims the whole sky.
In the second line, "tsutsu" marks continuation, showing the snow falling on and on. The idea of spring within the snow is shared with 1 and 2 of this book.
The third line, "and yet even so," joins the upper and lower verses adversatively.
The fourth line, "within the garden of my house," names the poet's own garden.
In the last line, "zo" forms a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "naku." From here the warbler poems continue through 36 of this book.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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