黒髪と雪との仲の憂き見れば
ともかがみをもつらしとぞ思ふ
ともかがみをもつらしとぞ思ふ
- Roma-ji
-
Kurokami to yuki to no naka no uki mireba tomokagami o mo tsurashi to zo omou
- English Translation
-
Black hair and the snow—
when I see how ill
they keep together,
my friend's hair and the mirror too
I find hateful to my eyes
- Meaning
- When I see how unhappily black hair and snow get along, I find even my friend's hair, and the mirror that shows it, hateful.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Winter Poems 473
Headnote: "Again."
The poet says that when he sees how unhappily black hair and snow get along, he finds his friend's hair, and the mirror too, hateful. The pain of black hair turning snow-white is expressed as a quarrel between black hair and snow.
According to the headnote, Tsurayuki sent this again in response to Fujiwara no Kanesuke's reply in the preceding poem. The next poem is Kanesuke's reply, and this is the third of the exchanges on snow and white hair that began with 471.
The poet, called "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. He was one of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū and served as Governor of Tosa, among other posts. Known also as the author of the Tosa Diary, he is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.
The first line, "Kurokami to," means "black hair and," a word shared by the exchange from 471 onward.
The second line, "yuki to no naka no," means "of the relation with snow," likening black and white hair to two people at odds.
The third line, "uki mireba," means "when I see how painful it is."
In the fourth line, "tomokagami" is understood as a pivot on "tomo ga kami," my friend's hair, and "kagami," the mirror that shows the white hair.
The last line, "tsurashi to zo omou," means "I find them hateful," the particle "zo" and the attributive "omou" forming a kakarimusubi pattern.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kurokami no iro furikauru shirayuki no machiizuru tomo wa utoku zo arikeru
- Next Poem
-
Toshigoto ni shiraga no kazu o masukagami miru ni zo yuki no tomo wa shirikeru