Ura chikaku furikuru yuki wa shiranami no sue no matsuyama kosu ka to zo miru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

浦近く降りくる雪は白波の
末の松山越すかとぞ見る

Roma-ji: Ura chikaku furikuru yuki wa shiranami no sue no matsuyama kosu ka to zo miru
English Translation: The snow that comes down
falling near the shore—it seems
that the white-capped waves
are rising high and crossing
over Sue no Matsuyama.
Meaning: The snow falling near the shore looks as if white waves were crossing over the Pine Hill of Sue.
Commentary: Book Four Winter Poems 239

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem likens the whiteness of snow falling thickly near the shore to white waves crossing over the Pine Hill of Sue. Invoking the Pine Hill of Sue, which waves were said never to cross, it conveys snow so heavy that one might think an impossible sight had appeared.
The author, written simply as Hitomaro, is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. A court poet of the Asuka period, he is revered as the sage of poetry and the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
The image of waves crossing the Pine Hill of Sue draws on an Eastland poem in the Kokinshū that likens an impossible change of heart to waves crossing the Pine Hill of Sue.

First line, "ura chikaku," means "near the shore."
Second line, "furikuru yuki wa," means "the snow that comes falling."
Third line, "shiranami no," means "of the white-breaking waves," likening the whiteness of the snow to white waves.
Fourth line, "sue no matsuyama," is a famed place in Mutsu, said never to be crossed by waves.
Final line, "kosu ka to zo miru," means "it looks as if they cross," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "miru." 256 in this book likewise ends with "ka to zo miru," seeing snow as something else.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Yū sareba saho no kawara no kawagiri ni tomo madowaseru chidori naku nari
Next Poem: Fuyu no yo no ike no kōri no sayakeki wa tsuki no hikari no migaku narikeri