吉野山消えせぬ雪と見えつるは
峰続き咲く桜なりけり
峰続き咲く桜なりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Yoshinoyama kiesenu yuki to mietsuru wa minetsuzuki saku sakura narikeri
- English Translation
-
On Yoshino's hills
what appeared to be the snow
that never melts away
was the cherry trees in bloom
along the ridges of the peaks.
- Meaning
- What looked like unmelting snow on Mount Yoshino was in fact the cherries blooming along its chain of peaks.
- Commentary
-
Book One Spring Poems 41
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
What looked like unmelting snow white on the peaks of Mount Yoshino turns out to be cherries blooming from ridge to ridge. Through the conceit of cherries mistaken for snow, the poem captures Yoshino in full bloom as a vast landscape.
First line, "Yoshinoyama," like poem 4 of this book, sings of Yoshino. Where poem 4 described Yoshino's snow melting into haze, this poem reveals that what seemed snow was cherry blossom.
Second line, "kiesenu yuki to," means "as snow that never melts."
Third line, "mietsuru wa," means "what appeared so," gathering the whole first half into the subject.
Fourth line, "minetsuzuki saku," shows the flowers blooming in a chain from peak to peak.
Final line, "sakura narikeri," uses "keri" to express the discovery that what seemed snow was cherries. It pairs with poem 9 of this book, which saw the snow on Yoshino's hills as flowers; here the conceit is revealed as fact.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Asamidori nobe no kasumi wa tsutsumedomo koborete niou hanazakura kana
- Next Poem
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Harugasumi tachi na hedate so hanazakari mite dani akanu yama no sakura o