Atarashiki haru sae chikaku nariyukeba furi nomi masaru toshi no yuki kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

新しき春さへ近くなりゆけば
ふりのみまさる年の雪かな

Roma-ji: Atarashiki haru sae chikaku nariyukeba furi nomi masaru toshi no yuki kana
English Translation: As the bright new spring
draws ever nearer at hand,
it falls only more,
growing old along with the year,
this snow at the year's end.
Meaning: As even the new spring draws near, the snow of the year's end only falls the more, as the year itself grows old.
Commentary: Book Four Winter Poems 255

Headnote: "For a folding screen"
As the new spring draws near, the snow falls ever more heavily and the year grows ever older. Laying falling snow and the aging year on a single word, the poet senses the passing of time in the snow of the year's end. According to the headnote, it was written for a folding screen.
The author, written as Yoshinobu, is Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu. From the Ōnakatomi family, who served as chief priests of the Ise Shrine, he took part in compiling the Gosenshū and in reading the Man'yōshū as one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "atarashiki," means "new."
Second line, "haru sae chikaku," means "even spring drawing near," with "sae" expressing addition.
Third line, "nariyukeba," means "as it comes to be."
Fourth line, "furi nomi masaru," plays on "furu" as snow falling and the year growing old, meaning that both the falling and the aging only increase.
Final line, "toshi no yuki kana," means "the snow of the year's end," with "kana" exclamatory. As snow announcing the year's close, it leads into the year-end poems that follow.
Author: Onakatomi no Yoshinobu
Source: Shui Wakashu
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