Yonayona no tabine no toko ni kaze saete hatsuyuki fureru Saya no Nakayama - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夜な夜なの旅寝の床に風冴えて
初雪降れる小夜の中山

Roma-ji: Yonayona no tabine no toko ni kaze saete hatsuyuki fureru Saya no Nakayama
English Translation: Night after night
on my bed of travel-sleep
the wind grows colder,
and now the first snow has fallen
on Saya no Nakayama
Meaning: Night after night the wind grows colder over my traveler's bed, and now the first snow has fallen on the pass of Saya no Nakayama.
Commentary: Book Eight Travel Poems 502

Headnote: "Composed on the theme of first snow on the road"
Composed on the topic "first snow on the road." Night after night the wind grows colder over the traveler's bed, and at last the first snow has fallen on Saya no Nakayama, the poet says. As the nights of travel pile up and the cold deepens until the first snow arrives, he conveys both the length of the journey and the turning of the season.
The author, "Hachijō Former Chancellor," is Fujiwara no Saneyuki, son of Provisional Major Counselor Fujiwara no Kinzane, who rose to Chancellor and was called the Hachijō Chancellor. He was the founder of the Sanjō house.

First line, "yonayona no": "of every night," showing how many nights of travel have passed.
Second line, "tabine no toko ni": "on the bed where I sleep on my journey."
Third line, "kaze saete": "sayu" means to grow chill, the cold deepening night by night.
Fourth line, "hatsuyuki fureru": "ru" is the attributive of the continuative "ri," "the first snow has fallen."
Fifth line, "Saya no Nakayama": a pass in Tōtōmi, a poetic place known as a hard stretch of the Tōkaidō. The poem ends on a noun. Poem 538 of this book also ends with "Sayo no Nakayama," singing of winter showers where this poem sings of first snow.
Author: Fujiwara no Saneyuki
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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