Shirakumo to mine ni wa miete sakurabana chireba fumoto no yuki ni zo arikeru - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

白雲と峰には見えて桜花
散れば麓の雪にぞありける

Roma-ji: Shirakumo to mine ni wa miete sakurabana chireba fumoto no yuki ni zo arikeru
English Translation: As white clouds they seem
upon the peaks, but cherry
blossoms, when they fall,
become the snow that lies
upon the foothills below
Meaning: On the peaks the cherry blossoms look like white clouds, but when they fall, they turn out to be snow in the foothills below.
Commentary: Book Two Spring Poems II 79

Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'Blossoms on the Mountain'"
Composed on the topic "Blossoms on the Mountain." Cherries blooming on the peaks look from afar like white clouds, and when the flowers fall they become snow drifting down onto the foothills. The same cherry blossoms are likened to clouds on the peak and to snow at the foot, catching the motion of petals descending from the heights within a broad landscape.
The author, "Former Chancellor of Ōmiya," is Fujiwara no Koremichi, son of Provisional Major Counselor Fujiwara no Munemichi, who rose to Chancellor. He was called the Former Chancellor of Ōmiya because he lived at Kujō Ōmiya.

First line, "shirakumo to": "as white clouds," the traditional likening of cherries in full bloom to white clouds. The next poem, 80, also ends with "mine no shirakumo," sharing the image of cherries on the peak as white clouds.
Second line, "mine ni wa miete": the particle "wa" sets the peak against the foothills: "they appear on the peaks as clouds."
Third line, "sakurabana": names the subject of the poem, cherry blossoms.
Fourth line, "chireba fumoto no": the realized condition, "when they fall, of the foothills." Setting "foothills" against the "peaks" of the upper verse creates a contrast of high and low.
Fifth line, "yuki ni zo arikeru": "zo" closes with the attributive "keru." Falling blossoms become snow, so the likening shifts from clouds on the peak to snow below. "Hana no shirayuki" in 93 and "yuki ka to zo miru" in 104 of this book also liken blossoms to snow.
Author: Fujiwara no Koremichi
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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