Yoru naraba tsuki to zo mimashi waga yado no niwa shirotae ni furitsumoru yuki - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夜ならば月とぞ見まし我が宿の
庭白妙に降り積もる雪

Roma-ji: Yoru naraba tsuki to zo mimashi waga yado no niwa shirotae ni furitsumoru yuki
English Translation: If it were night,
I would take it for the moon—
in my garden,
falling, piling up, pure white,
this covering of snow
Meaning: Were it night, I would take it for moonlight: the snow that has fallen and piled in my garden, turning it pure white.
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Poems 496

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that were it night, he would take for moonlight the snow that has fallen and piled in his garden, turning it pure white. The whiteness of snow in a daytime garden is praised as such that it could be mistaken for moonlight at night.
503 in this book sings of white snow fallen only at night as the light of the shining moon piled up, so that the conceit of overlaying snow with moonlight forms a pair. Where this poem likens daytime snow to the moon of night, 503 sees night snow as moonlight itself.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Yoru naraba," means "if it were night," setting a counterfactual condition.
In the second line, "mashi" is a counterfactual auxiliary: "I would take it for the moon." The particle "zo" and the attributive "mashi" form a kakarimusubi pattern, and the poem pauses here.
The third line, "waga yado no," means "of my dwelling."
In the fourth line, "shirotae" means "pure white": "turning the garden pure white."
The last line, "furitsumoru yuki," means "the snow that falls and piles," closing with a noun in inverted order with the second line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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