Tatoete mo iwamu kata nashi tsukikage ni usugumo kakete fureru shirayuki - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

たとへても言はむ方なし月影に
薄雲かけて降れる白雪

Roma-ji: Tatoete mo iwamu kata nashi tsukikage ni usugumo kakete fureru shirayuki
English Translation: Though I seek a likeness
there is no way to tell of it:
in the light of the moon
draped as with a veil of cloud,
the white snow that is falling
Meaning: Though I try to liken it to something, there are no words for it: the white snow falling in the moonlight, as if veiled in thin cloud.
Commentary: Book Six Winter Poems 450

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
There are no words, the poet says, for what he might liken to it: the white snow falling in the moonlight as if veiled in thin cloud. He expresses a wonder that leaves him speechless at the beauty of a pale night where moonlight, the thin cloud that veils it, and the snow drifting down melt together.
The author, "Ninnaji Go-Nyūdō Hosshinnō (Kakushō)," was a son of Emperor Toba. He became the fifth abbot of Ninnaji and was called the Shikondaiji Omuro.
Poems on snow continue from 445 to 467.

First line, "tatoete mo": "even if I try to liken it."
Second line, "iwamu kata nashi": "there is no way to say it," and the poem pauses here, its order inverted with the lower verse.
Third line, "tsukikage ni": "tsukikage" is moonlight.
Fourth line, "usugumo kakete": "veiled in thin cloud," a thin cloud lying across the moonlight.
Fifth line, "fureru shirayuki": the poem ends on a noun. The same last line as 445 of this book, it names at last the scene beyond words.
Author: Prince-Priest Kakushō
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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