山隠れ消えせぬ雪のわびしきは
君まつの葉にかかりてぞふる
君まつの葉にかかりてぞふる
- Roma-ji
-
Yamagakure kiesenu yuki no wabishiki wa kimi matsu no ha ni kakarite zo furu
- English Translation
-
Hidden by the hills,
the snow that does not melt away
is wretched, for it
clings on the pine of waiting
for you, and falls, and lingers
- Meaning
- How wretched is the snow that lies hidden in the hills and never melts: it clings to the needles of the pine that waits for you, and so it falls, and so I pass my days.
- Commentary
-
Book Fourteen Love Poems VI 1073
Headnote: "Reply."
The reply says that the wretchedness of snow hidden in the hills and unmelted is that it falls clinging to the pine of waiting for him. Against the snow that vanishes in the sky in the preceding poem, she says that she, hidden away in court service, does not vanish but passes her days waiting for him.
According to the headnote, it is the woman's reply to the preceding poem, 1072. Where he spoke of snow vanishing in the sky, she turns it round as "kiesenu yuki," snow that does not melt, in the shelter of the hills.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Yamagakure," means "hidden by the hills," standing for her life out of sight in court service.
The second line, "kiesenu yuki no," means "of the snow that does not melt," pairing with "sora ni kiyuran" in the last line of the preceding poem.
The third line, "wabishiki wa," means "what is wretched is."
The fourth line, "kimi matsu no ha ni," means "on the needles of the pine that waits for you," with "matsu" joining waiting and the pine.
The last line, "kakarite zo furu," means "clinging, it falls," with "furu" joining the falling of snow and the passing of time. "Zo" is an emphatic binding particle closed by the attributive "furu."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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