あしひきのやまゐに降れる白雪は
摺れる衣の心地こそすれ
摺れる衣の心地こそすれ
- Roma-ji
-
Ashihiki no yamai ni fureru shirayuki wa sureru koromo no kokochi koso sure
- English Translation
-
On the mountain slopes,
the white snow that has fallen
in the valley folds
gives the feeling of a robe
printed with the mountain indigo.
- Meaning
- The white snow fallen in the folds of the mountains looks just like a robe printed with mountain indigo.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Winter Poems 245
Headnote: "On snow that had fallen in a mountain valley"
The poem likens white snow lying in patches in a mountain valley to a robe printed with patterns in mountain indigo. Letting the word "yamai" echo "mountain indigo," it overlays the snowy mountain scene with the purity of the blue-printed robes worn for Shinto rites. According to the headnote, it was composed on seeing snow fallen in a mountain valley.
Ise was a woman poet of the early to mid-Heian period and a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage. She served Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda, and became the mother of Nakatsukasa. She is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "ashihiki no," is a pillow word modifying "yama" (mountain).
Second line, "yamai ni fureru," means "fallen in the mountain valley," playing "yamai" on "between the mountains" and "mountain indigo," a plant used for dye.
Third line, "shirayuki wa," means "the white snow."
Fourth line, "sureru koromo no," means "of a robe printed with dye," taking up the mountain indigo of the second line.
Final line, "kokochi koso sure," means "it feels like," with the emphatic particle "koso" resolved by the perfective "sure."
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Yoru naraba tsuki to zo mimashi waga yado no niwa shirotae ni fureru shirayuki