霰降るみ山の里のわびしきは
来てたはやすく訪ふ人ぞなき
来てたはやすく訪ふ人ぞなき
- Roma-ji
-
Arare furu miyama no sato no wabishiki wa kite tawayasuku tou hito zo naki
- English Translation
-
Where the hailstones fall,
in a village deep in the hills,
the loneliness is this:
that no one comes to visit,
for the coming is not easy
- Meaning
- What makes the mountain village where hail falls so desolate is that no one comes easily to call.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Winter Poems 468
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that what makes the mountain village where hail falls so desolate is that no one comes easily to call. The loneliness of a mountain village in winter is found in the ceasing of visitors.
Following 464, it sings of hail. 489 also sings of no one coming to call because of the snow, so that the conceit of visits ceasing to a mountain village or dwelling in winter recurs in this book.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Arare furu," means "where hail falls."
In the second line, "miyama" means "deep in the mountains": "of the village deep in the hills."
The third line, "wabishiki wa," means "what is desolate," with the lower lines revealing what it is.
The fourth line, "kite tawayasuku," means "coming easily," saying that it is not easy to reach the mountain village.
The last line, "tou hito zo naki," means "there is no one who calls," the particle "zo" and the attributive "naki" forming a kakarimusubi pattern.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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