Kurokami no iro furikauru shirayuki no machiizuru tomo wa utoku zo arikeru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

黒髪の色ふりかふる白雪の
待ち出づる友はうとくぞありける

Roma-ji: Kurokami no iro furikauru shirayuki no machiizuru tomo wa utoku zo arikeru
English Translation: The white snow that falls
and changes the color
of black hair—
the friend it waits to greet
is one I'd keep at a distance
Meaning: The friend that the white snow waits for and greets, the snow that falls and changes the color of black hair, is something unwelcome to me.
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Poems 472

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet says that the friend that the white snow, which falls and changes the color of black hair, waits for and greets is something unwelcome. Taking up the "snow that waits for a friend" in the preceding poem, he answers that this friend is only more white hair, hardly to be welcomed.
It is a reply to the preceding poem by Ki no Tsurayuki. It answers Tsurayuki's "tomo matsu yuki" and "kurokami" with "machiizuru tomo" and "kurokami no iro."
The poet, called "Kanesuke Ason," is Fujiwara no Kanesuke. A son of Fujiwara no Toshimoto, he rose to Middle Counselor and, because his mansion stood by the embankment of the Kamo River, was called the Embankment Middle Counselor. Known as a patron of poets such as Ki no Tsurayuki, he was the great-grandfather of Murasaki Shikibu and is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.
In this text, the second line reads "iro furikauru," which does not agree with "iro furikawaru" in the line of kana readings. Here the text is followed.

The first line, "Kurokami no," means "of black hair," taking up "waga kurokami no" in the fourth line of the preceding poem.
In the second line, "furi" is a pivot word meaning both snow "falling" and "growing old" with the years: "falling upon it and changing the color of black hair."
The third line, "shirayuki no," means "the white snow," a figure for white hair.
The fourth line, "machiizuru tomo wa," means "the friend it waits to greet," taking up "tomo matsu yuki" in the preceding poem.
The last line, "utoku zo arikeru," means "is unwelcome indeed," the particle "zo" and the attributive "keru" forming a kakarimusubi pattern.
Author: Fujiwara no Kanesuke
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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