うち霧らし雪は降りつつしかすがに
わが家の園に鶯ぞ鳴く
わが家の園に鶯ぞ鳴く
- Roma-ji
-
Uchikirashi yuki wa furitsutsu shikasuga ni waga ie no sono ni uguisu zo naku
- English Translation
-
Clouding all the sky,
the snow keeps on falling down,
and yet all the same,
within the garden of my house
the warbler is singing now.
- Meaning
- The sky is clouded over and the snow keeps falling, yet even so, in the garden of my house a warbler sings.
- Commentary
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Book One Spring Poems 11
Headnote: "Composed on the bush warbler"
Even as snow keeps falling from a clouded sky, a warbler sings in the poet's own garden, a scene where the remnants of winter and the signs of spring exist together. In the warbler singing despite the snow, the poet senses the sure arrival of spring. According to the headnote, the poem was composed on the topic of the warbler.
Ōtomo no Yakamochi was a poet of the Nara period and the son of Ōtomo no Tabito. He is thought to have been deeply involved in compiling the Man'yōshū and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
The poem appears in Book Eight of the Man'yōshū as Yakamochi's, with the final line "uguisu naku mo."
First line, "uchikirashi," means "clouding over the whole sky," with "uchi" as a prefix.
Second line, "yuki wa furitsutsu," uses "tsutsu" for continuation, showing the snow falling on and on.
Third line, "shikasuga ni," meaning "and yet, all the same," links the snowy scene above to the warbler's voice below with a turn of contrast.
Fourth line, "waga ie no sono ni," means "in the garden of my house," and has an extra syllable.
Final line, "uguisu zo naku," closes with the attributive "naku" in response to "zo." Against the warbler of the snowbound mountain village in the preceding poem, this one catches a warbler singing amid the snow in the poet's own garden.
- Author
- Otomo no Yakamochi
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Uguisu no koe nakariseba yuki kienu yamazato ikade haru o shiramashi
- Next Poem
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Ume no hana sore to mo miezu hisakata no amagiru kono nabete furereba