Shirakumo no oriiru yama to mietsuru wa furitsumu yuki no kienu narikeri - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

白雲の下りゐる山と見えつるは
降り積む雪の消えぬなりけり

Roma-ji: Shirakumo no oriiru yama to mietsuru wa furitsumu yuki no kienu narikeri
English Translation: White clouds come down
to rest upon a mountain,
so it seemed to me—
but it was the fallen snow,
piled up and not yet melted
Meaning: What looked like a mountain where white clouds had come down to rest was in fact the piled-up snow that had not melted.
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Poems 484

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that what looked like a mountain where white clouds had come down to rest was in fact piled-up snow that had not melted. By mistaking the snow on the mountain for white clouds, the poem conveys the whiteness and depth of the snow.
Like Shirayama two poems earlier, it sings of snow that lies on a mountain and does not melt. In this book, poems likening snow to blossoms or the moon follow after it.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
In this text, the fourth line reads "furitsumu yuki no," which does not agree with "furitsuru yuki no" in the line of kana readings. Here the text is followed.

The first line, "Shirakumo no," means "white clouds."
The second line, "oriiru yama to," means "a mountain where they have come down to rest."
The third line, "mietsuru wa," means "what seemed to be."
The fourth line, "furitsumu yuki no," means "the snow that falls and piles," the same line as the fourth line two poems earlier.
In the last line, "narikeri" expresses realization: "it was, I now see, snow that had not melted."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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