Tobikayou oshi no hakaze no samukereba ike no kōri zo sae masarikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

飛び通ふ鴛鴦の羽風の寒ければ
池の氷ぞ冴えまさりける

Roma-ji: Tobikayou oshi no hakaze no samukereba ike no kōri zo sae masarikeru
English Translation: The mandarin ducks
flying to and fro stir winds
so cold with their wings
that the ice upon the pond
grows ever more chill and hard.
Meaning: The wind from the wings of the mandarin ducks flying to and fro is so cold that the ice on the pond grows ever more frigid.
Commentary: Book Four Winter Poems 232

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that the cold wind stirred by the wings of mandarin ducks flying to and fro over the pond makes its ice grow ever more frigid. The view that so slight a motion as a bird's wingbeat can harden the ice captures the frozen air of a winter pond.
Ki no Tomonori, a cousin of Ki no Tsurayuki, was one of the compilers of the Kokinshū but is said to have died before its completion. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "tobikayou," means "flying to and fro."
Second line, "oshi no hakaze no," means "the wind from the mandarin ducks' wings." It takes up 228 in this book, where the ducks could not brush away the frost.
Third line, "samukereba," means "since it is cold," the perfective form with "ba" expressing an established cause.
Fourth line, "ike no kōri zo," means "the ice of the pond," emphasized by the particle "zo." Whereas the preceding poem wondered from the ducks' voices whether the ice had melted, this one reverses it, saying the ice grows still colder.
Final line, "sae masarikeru," means "grows ever more frigid," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "keru."
Author: Ki no Tomonori
Source: Shui Wakashu
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