Yama chikami mezurashige naku furu yuki no shiroku ya naran toshi tsumorinaba - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

山近み珍しげなく降る雪の
白くやならん年積もりなば

Roma-ji: Yama chikami mezurashige naku furu yuki no shiroku ya naran toshi tsumorinaba
English Translation: The hills so near,
the snow falls here so often
it's nothing new—
will I too turn as white
once the years have piled up
Meaning: Like the snow that falls so often here, near the mountains, that it is nothing new, will my hair too turn white once the years have piled up?
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Poems 491

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet wonders whether, like the snow that falls so often near the mountains that it is nothing new, his hair too will turn white once the years have piled up. In the snow that falls again and again on a mountain village, the poem overlays a self turning white-haired with the years.
Like 467 and the exchange from 471 to 474 in this book, it overlays snow with white hair. The conceit links snow "piling up" with years "piling up."
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Yama chikami," uses the "mi" construction expressing cause: "since the mountains are near."
The second line, "mezurashige naku," means "nothing new, as always."
The third line, "furu yuki no," means "like the falling snow."
In the fourth line, "ya" is an interrogative particle forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "ran": "will I turn white?"
The last line, "toshi tsumorinaba," means "if the years pile up," linking snow "piling up" with years "piling up," in inverted order with the fourth line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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