見渡せば松の葉白き吉野山
幾世積もれる雪にかあるらん
幾世積もれる雪にかあるらん
- Roma-ji
-
Miwataseba matsu no ha shiroki yoshinoyama ikuyo tsumoreru yuki ni ka aru ran
- English Translation
-
As I gaze around,
the pine needles all are white
on Mount Yoshino—
over how many ages
has this snow been piling up?
- Meaning
- As I look out over Mount Yoshino, even the pine needles are white—through how many ages has this snow been piling up?
- Commentary
-
Book Four Winter Poems 250
Headnote: "For a folding screen at the house of the Lay Monk Regent"
Before Mount Yoshino, where even the evergreen pine needles are covered in white as far as the eye can see, the poet marvels at how many ages the snow must have been piling up. In snow deep enough to whiten even the pines that never lose their green, he senses the length of accumulated years. According to the headnote, it was written for a folding screen at the house of the Lay Monk Regent, that is, Fujiwara no Kaneie.
The author, written as Kanemori, is Taira no Kanemori. Of a Taira line descended from Emperor Kōkō, he was a poet of the mid-Heian period. He is known for his performance at the palace poetry contest of the fourth year of Tentoku and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
First line, "miwataseba," means "as I look out over it."
Second line, "matsu no ha shiroki," means "the pine needles white," saying that even the evergreen pines are covered with snow.
Third line, "yoshinoyama," is the snowy mountain in Yamato; it ends on a noun, and the poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "ikuyo tsumoreru," means "piled up over how many ages." It takes up the conceit of the preceding poem, the snows of many winters piling up.
Final line, "yuki ni ka aru ran," means "could it be snow," with the questioning particle "ka" resolved by the attributive "ran."
- Author
- Taira no Kanemori
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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