Fuyu kureba Saho no kawase ni iru tazu mo hitorinegataki ne o zo naku naru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

冬来れば佐保の川瀬にゐる鶴も
ひとり寝がたき音をぞ鳴くなる

Roma-ji: Fuyu kureba Saho no kawase ni iru tazu mo hitorinegataki ne o zo naku naru
English Translation: When winter comes round,
even the cranes that linger
in the Saho shallows
cry with the voice of those
who cannot sleep alone
Meaning: When winter comes, even the cranes in the shallows of the Saho River seem to cry out with voices that say it is hard to sleep alone.
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Poems 446

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that when winter comes, even the cranes in the shallows of the Saho River seem to cry with voices saying it is hard to sleep alone. In the cry of cranes in the cold of a winter night, the poem overlays the loneliness of sleeping alone.
Following Mount Saho two poems earlier, this poem sings of the Saho River. The next poem also speaks of "one who sleeps alone," and 449 has "nights of sleeping alone," so that poems on the desolation of sleeping alone in winter are gathered near the opening of this book.
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, "Fuyu kureba," means "when winter comes." 449 also places "fuyu kureba" in its third line.
The second line, "Saho no kawase ni," means "in the shallows of the Saho River" in Nara, the same district as Mount Saho two poems earlier.
The third line, "iru tazu mo," means "even the cranes that are there," with "mo" implying that the cranes, like people, feel this way.
The fourth line, "hitorinegataki," means "hard to sleep alone."
In the last line, "ne" means a cry, and "naru" is the attributive form of the auxiliary "nari," which infers from sound; it answers "zo" in a kakarimusubi pattern: "they seem to cry aloud." The "ne" of sleep in the fourth line and the "ne" of voice in the last line repeat the same sound.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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