Motoyui ni furisou yuki no shizuku ni wa makura no shita ni nami zo tachikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

元結に降り添ふ雪の雫には
枕の下に浪ぞ立ちける

Roma-ji: Motoyui ni furisou yuki no shizuku ni wa makura no shita ni nami zo tachikeru
English Translation: On my topknot cord,
the snow keeps falling, adding more,
and from its dripping,
beneath the pillow where I lie,
waves are rising, I find.
Meaning: From the drops of snow that keep falling on my topknot cord, waves have risen beneath my pillow.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Autumn Poems 1153

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When he made snow into the shapes of islands and watched them, and they gradually melted away"
The poet says that from the drops of snow falling on his topknot cord, waves have risen beneath his pillow. The headnote continues from the preceding poem, 1152, and this too belongs to the occasion when the snow islands gradually melted away. Taking up the sea image of the preceding poem, he leads from the drops of melting snow to waves, and the poem is taken to lament old age, overlaying the snow on his topknot with white hair and the drops with tears.
The author, called "Nakatsukasa no Miko," is referred to by a title meaning a prince who served as Minister of Central Affairs. Both Prince Kaneakira and Prince Tomohira held that post, and there is no settled view as to which is meant.

First line, "motoyui ni," means "on the cord that binds my hair."
Second line, "furisou yuki no," means "of the snow that keeps falling and adding," suggesting hair growing whiter. It echoes "waga kurokami ni" and "fureru shirayuki" in the closing poem, 1158, in singing of snow falling on the hair.
Third line, "shizuku ni wa," means "from the drops of melting snow."
Fourth line, "makura no shita ni," means "beneath my pillow," suggesting a bed wet with tears.
Final line, "nami zo tachikeru," means "waves have risen," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by the attributive form "keru." It takes up the "watatsumi," sea, image of the preceding poem, 1152.
Author: Nakatsukasa no Miko
Source: Shui Wakashu
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