わが宿の梅にならひてみ吉野の
山の雪をも花とこそ見れ
山の雪をも花とこそ見れ
- Roma-ji
-
Waga yado no ume ni naraite miyoshino no yama no yuki o mo hana to koso mire
- English Translation
-
Grown used to the plum
that blossoms beside my house,
on fair Yoshino
even the snow on the hills
I find I see as flowers.
- Meaning
- So used am I to the plum in my own garden that even the snow on the hills of Yoshino looks to me like blossoms.
- Commentary
-
Book One Spring Poems 9
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
With eyes grown used to the plum blossoms in the poet's own garden, even the snow lingering on Mount Yoshino looks like blossoms. The gaze widens from the nearby plum to the snow on the distant mountain, showing how a heart longing for spring sees snow as flowers.
First line, "waga yado no," means "of my own house," starting from the familiar garden. Poems 15 and 72 of this book open with the same line.
Second line, "ume ni naraite," with "narau" meaning "to grow accustomed," conveys "with eyes used to the plum blossoms."
Third line, "miyoshino no," like "miyoshino no" in poem 1 of this book, is an elegant name for Yoshino, setting up a contrast between the nearby house and the distant mountains.
Fourth line, "yama no yuki o mo," uses "mo" to add "even the snow on the mountains."
Final line, "hana to koso mire," closes "koso" with the perfective "mire," emphasizing the conceit of seeing snow as blossoms. Whereas the preceding poem saw snow as falling petals, this one sees snow as flowers in bloom.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Haru tachite nao furumiya wa ume no hana saku hodo mo naku chiru ka to zo miru
- Next Poem
-
Uguisu no koe nakariseba yuki kienu yamazato ikade haru o shiramashi