Yamazato wa yuki furitsumite michi mo nashi kyō kon hito o aware to wa min - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

山里は雪降り積みて道もなし
今日来ん人をあはれとは見ん

Roma-ji: Yamazato wa yuki furitsumite michi mo nashi kyō kon hito o aware to wa min
English Translation: In my mountain home
the snow has fallen and piled,
and there is no path;
one who comes to me today
I will cherish with true feeling.
Meaning: In this mountain village the snow has piled so deep that there is no path; anyone who comes to visit today I shall truly hold dear.
Commentary: Book Four Winter Poems 251

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
In a mountain village whose paths are buried in snow, the poet says that anyone who takes the trouble to visit on such a day he will hold dear as a person of true feeling. The loneliness of a village no one visits and the longing for a visitor are conveyed through the depth of the snow.
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, "yamazato wa," means "the mountain village."
Second line, "yuki furitsumite," means "the snow having fallen and piled up."
Third line, "michi mo nashi," means "there is no path," and the poem pauses here. 252 in this book also says the mountain path cannot be found for the snow, so poems on snow-buried paths stand together.
Fourth line, "kyō kon hito o," means "anyone who might come today," with "n" an auxiliary of supposition or softened statement.
Final line, "aware to wa min," means "I shall regard as dear," with "n" expressing intention.
Author: Taira no Kanemori
Source: Shui Wakashu
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