Mimuroyama tani ni ya haru no tachinuramu yuki no shitamizu iwa tataku nari - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

三室山谷にや春の立ちぬらむ
雪の下水岩たたくなり

Roma-ji: Mimuroyama tani ni ya haru no tachinuramu yuki no shitamizu iwa tataku nari
English Translation: On Mimuro Mount,
has spring already risen
down in the valley?
Water under the snow
is beating on the rocks
Meaning: Has spring already come to the valley of Mount Mimuro? I can hear the water flowing beneath the snow, striking against the rocks.
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems I 2

Headnote: "Composed when presenting a hundred-poem sequence in the reign of Emperor Horikawa"
This poem belongs to the Horikawa Hundred-Poem Sequence, for which poets each presented one hundred poems in Emperor Horikawa's reign. On Mount Mimuro, where snow still lies, the poet hears meltwater beneath the snow striking the rocks and surmises that spring may already have reached the valley. Its charm lies in grasping the unseen arrival of spring through sound.
The author, "Middle Counselor Kuninobu," is Minamoto no Kuninobu, son of Minister of the Right Minamoto no Akifusa, who rose to Provisional Middle Counselor. Active in Emperor Horikawa's poetry circle, he was one of the poets of the Horikawa Hundred-Poem Sequence.

First line, "Mimuroyama": a poetic place in Yamato whose name suggests a mountain where a god dwells. It is said to stand by the Tatsuta River, and 58 in this book, "Kamigaki no Mimuro no yama," depicts the same mountain.
Second line, "tani ni ya haru no": "ya" is an interrogative particle linked with "ramu" in the third line. The poet wonders whether spring has reached even the shaded valley.
Third line, "tachinuramu": "has spring risen, I wonder." "Nu" marks completion and "ramu" is the attributive form of present conjecture, closing the construction begun by "ya." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "yuki no shitamizu": water running beneath the piled snow. The poem two places later, 5, also speaks of "yuki no shitamizu," sharing the idea of meltwater heralding spring.
Fifth line, "iwa tataku nari": "nari" expresses inference from sound, conveying that the poet hears water beating on the rocks. This sound is the basis for the conjecture of the first three lines.
Author: Minamoto no Kunizane
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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