Nami kakeba migiwa no yuki mo kienamashi kokoro arite mo kōru ike kana - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

波かけば汀の雪も消えなまし
心ありても凍る池かな

Roma-ji: Nami kakeba migiwa no yuki mo kienamashi kokoro arite mo kōru ike kana
English Translation: If the waves should wash
upon it, the snow along the shore
would melt away:
how thoughtful of the pond, to freeze
as if it had a heart
Meaning: If the waves were to wash over it, the snow on the shore would melt away; how thoughtful the pond is, to freeze over as if it had a heart.
Commentary: Book Six Winter Poems 456

Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'Snow by the Pond' at Henjōji"
Composed at Henjōji on the topic of snow by the pond. If the waves were to wash over it, the poet says, the snow on the shore would melt away, so the pond, as if it had a heart, has frozen over. It is a witty poem that grants a human heart to the pond, taking its freezing as consideration for the lovely snow on the shore, lest the waves wash it away.
The author, "Imperial Prince of Ninnaji (Shukaku)," was a son of Emperor Go-Shirakawa. He became the sixth abbot of Ninnaji and was called Kitain Omuro. He loved waka and kept wide company with poets.
Poems on snow continue from 445 to 467. 392 of this book granted a heart to water, asking who would say clear water has no heart when, turning to ice, it knows the beginning of winter. This poem likewise grants a heart to a freezing pond, and the two sing of the same conceit at different times, the start of winter and the season of snow. Henjōji was a temple in Saga in the capital, on the shore of Hirosawa Pond, famed as a place for viewing the moon.

First line, "nami kakeba": "ba" attached to the irrealis gives a supposition, "if the waves should wash over it."
Second line, "migiwa no yuki mo": "migiwa" is the water's edge, the shore.
Third line, "kienamashi": "mashi" is the counterfactual auxiliary, "it would melt away." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "kokoro arite mo": "having a heart," personifying the pond. Like "kokoro nashi to wa tare ka iu" in 392 of this book, it grants a heart to water.
Fifth line, "kōru ike kana": the exclamatory "kana" shows his delight at a pond that freezes to protect the snow.
Author: Cloistered Prince Shukaku
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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