Yuki fukaki iwa no kakemichi ato tayuru Yoshino no sato mo haru wa kinikeri - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

雪深き岩の懸け道跡絶ゆる
吉野の里も春は来にけり

Roma-ji: Yuki fukaki iwa no kakemichi ato tayuru Yoshino no sato mo haru wa kinikeri
English Translation: Snow lying deep
on the paths hung from the rocks,
where all tracks have ceased:
even to Yoshino's village
spring has come at last
Meaning: Even to the village of Yoshino, where the snow lies deep and no footprints remain on the steep paths built along the rocks, spring has come at last.
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems I 3

Headnote: "Composed on the spirit of early spring when presenting a hundred-poem sequence"
This poem was composed on the theme of early spring for a hundred-poem sequence presented to Retired Emperor Sutoku. It says that spring has reached even the remote village of Yoshino, where deep snow lies and no footprints mark the narrow paths built along the cliffs. Setting the harsh, untraveled winter village against the spring that comes to all without distinction, it frankly expresses the poet's joy at the season's arrival.
The author, "Taikenmon'in no Horikawa," was a daughter of Minamoto no Akinaka, head of the Department of Divinities. A lady-in-waiting to Taikenmon'in Fujiwara no Tamako, consort of Emperor Toba, she was one of the leading women poets of the cloistered-rule period. Her younger sister was Jōsaimon'in no Hyōe.

First line, "yuki fukaki": snow lies deep in the mountain village of Yoshino, long celebrated in poetry as a place of snow.
Second line, "iwa no kakemichi": a steep path made by laying planks along a rock face, showing how hard it is to reach the deep mountain village.
Third line, "ato tayuru": "where tracks have ceased," in attributive form modifying "Yoshino no sato." The next poem, 4, "michi tayu to," likewise depicts a mountain village cut off by snow and is placed alongside this one.
Fourth line, "Yoshino no sato mo": "mo" implies "even here," in this secluded village as in the capital.
Fifth line, "haru wa kinikeri": "ni" marks completion and "keri" expresses sudden realization, conveying the feeling, "so spring has come."
Author: Taikenmon-in no Horikawa
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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