Hatsushigure fureba yamabe zo omōyuru izure no kata ka mazu momizuran - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

初時雨降れば山べぞ思ほゆる
いづれの方かまづもみづらん

Roma-ji: Hatsushigure fureba yamabe zo omōyuru izure no kata ka mazu momizuran
English Translation: The first showers—
when they fall, it is the hills
that come to my mind:
in which direction, I wonder,
are the leaves first turning red
Meaning: When the first winter showers fall, my thoughts turn to the mountains: in which direction, I wonder, have the leaves begun to turn first?
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Poems 443

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
When the first winter showers fall, the poet's thoughts turn to the mountains, wondering in which direction the leaves have begun to turn first. Hearing in the capital the first showers that announce winter, the poet imagines the coloring of distant hills not yet seen.
It is the opening poem of the book, announcing the arrival of winter with the first showers. The opening poem of Book Seven, 351, also sings of late-autumn showers, so that the books of autumn and winter both begin with showers. The last poem of this book, 506, sings of the year's end, so that a book begun with the first showers closes with the end of the year.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which is treated here as "anonymous."

The first line, "Hatsushigure," is the first shower of the winter, regarded as the herald of the season. The next poem also opens with "hatsushigure."
In the second line, "ba" is a conjunctive particle meaning "whenever they fall," and "zo" is an emphatic particle.
The third line, "omōyuru," means "come naturally to mind," and its attributive form answers "zo" in a kakarimusubi pattern. The poem pauses here.
In the fourth line, "ka" is an interrogative particle: "in which direction?"
In the last line, "ran" is an auxiliary of present conjecture; in the attributive form it answers "ka" in the fourth line: "have they begun to turn first?"
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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