Shirayama ni yuki furinureba ato taete ima wa Koshiji ni hito mo kayowazu - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

白山に雪降りぬれば跡絶えて
今はこしぢに人も通はず

Roma-ji: Shirayama ni yuki furinureba ato taete ima wa Koshiji ni hito mo kayowazu
English Translation: On Mount Shirayama
since the snow has fallen,
all the tracks are gone,
and now on the road to Koshi
not a soul comes through
Meaning: Since snow has fallen on Mount Shirayama, all tracks are gone, and now no one travels the road to Koshi—just as no one now comes along the road by which he used to come.
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Poems 470

Headnote: "Atsumi, Prince and Minister of Ceremonial, had been secretly visiting a woman, but his visits later became fewer and fewer; when his younger sister, the Princess and former Ise Priestess, wrote asking how things were these days, the woman replied with this."
The poet says that since snow has fallen on Mount Shirayama, all tracks are gone, and now no one travels the road to Koshi. Through a road of the Koshi region shut in by snow, she tells that the prince's visits have ceased.
According to the headnote, Prince Atsumi, Minister of Ceremonial, had been secretly visiting a woman, but his visits later became fewer and fewer; his younger sister, the former Ise Priestess, wrote to ask how things were, and the woman composed this in reply.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. According to the headnote, she was the woman Prince Atsumi had been visiting. Prince Atsumi was a son of Emperor Uda, and his younger sister, the former priestess, is thought to be Princess Yasuko, who served as Ise Priestess.

The first line, "Shirayama ni," means "on Mount Shirayama," on the border of Kaga and Echizen, a poetic place famed for snow.
The second line, "yuki furinureba," means "since the snow has fallen."
The third line, "ato taete," means "all footprints gone," overlaying the ceasing of the prince's visits.
In the fourth line, "Koshiji" is a pivot word meaning both "the road to Koshi," the northern provinces, and "the road by which he came."
The last line, "hito mo kayowazu," means "no one comes through," referring to the prince no longer visiting.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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