Miyako nite mezurashi to miru hatsuyuki wa yoshino no yama ni furi ya shinu ran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

都にて珍しと見る初雪は
吉野の山に降りやしぬらん

Roma-ji: Miyako nite mezurashi to miru hatsuyuki wa yoshino no yama ni furi ya shinu ran
English Translation: The first snow of the year
that here in the capital
we see as rare—
upon the hills of Yoshino
has it long since fallen there?
Meaning: The first snow, which we in the capital look upon as a rare sight—has it already fallen on the hills of Yoshino?
Commentary: Book Four Winter Poems 243

Headnote: "Composed on the first snow"
Before the first snow, which in the capital is looked upon as a rare sight, the poet imagines that it must long since have fallen on the snowy hills of Yoshino. The distance between the capital and Yoshino is shown through the different ways the first snow is received. According to the headnote, it was composed on the first snow.
Minamoto no Kageakira was an official and poet of the mid-Heian period; little is known of his life.

First line, "miyako nite," means "in the capital." From here a series of poems on snow continues.
Second line, "mezurashi to miru," means "looked on as a rare sight."
Third line, "hatsuyuki wa," means "the first snow of the winter."
Fourth line, "yoshino no yama ni," means "on the hills of Yoshino" in Yamato, sung of as a mountain deep in snow. In 247 and 250 of this book too, the hills of Yoshino are sung of together with snow.
Final line, "furi ya shinu ran," means "has it already fallen, I wonder," with "ya" resolved by the attributive "ran" and "nu" a perfective auxiliary.
Author: Minamoto no Kageakira
Source: Shui Wakashu
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