かきくらし霰降りしけ白玉を
敷ける庭とも人の見るべく
敷ける庭とも人の見るべく
- Roma-ji
-
Kakikurashi arare furishike shiratama o shikeru niwa to mo hito no mirubeku
- English Translation
-
Darkening the sky,
fall thick and fast, O hail,
so that those who see
will take it for a garden
strewn with white pearls
- Meaning
- Darken the sky, hail, and fall thick and fast, so that people will see this as a garden strewn with white pearls.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Winter Poems 464
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet calls on the hail to darken the sky and fall thick and fast, so that people will see the garden as one strewn with white pearls. Likening hailstones to white pearls, the poem expresses a wish for the beauty of a garden covered all over.
With this poem the book begins to sing of hail and snow, moving from the showers and autumn leaves of early winter to the hail and snow of deep winter.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Kakikurashi," means "darkening the whole sky."
The second line, "arare furishike," is an imperative: "hail, fall thick and fast and cover all." The poem pauses here.
The third line, "shiratama o," means "white jewels, pearls," likening the hailstones to them.
The fourth line, "shikeru niwa to mo," means "a garden strewn with them," echoing "shike" in the second line.
The last line, "hito no mirubeku," means "so that people will see," giving the purpose of the command in the second line, in an inverted order.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Hito shirezu kimi ni tsuketeshi waga sode no kesa shimo tokezu kōru narubeshi
- Next Poem
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Kannazuki shigururu toki zo Miyoshino no yama no miyuki mo furihajimekeru