Yamazakura hatsuyuki fureba sakinikeri Yoshino wa sato ni fuyugomoredomo

山桜初雪降れば咲きにけり
吉野は里に冬籠れども

Roma-ji: Yamazakura hatsuyuki fureba sakinikeri Yoshino wa sato ni fuyugomoredomo
English Translation: The mountain cherries,
when the first snows of winter fall,
have come into bloom,
though in Yoshino the village
is shut in for the winter.
Meaning: When the first snow falls, the mountain cherries have burst into bloom, even though in Yoshino the village is shut in for the winter.
Commentary: Winter Poems 512

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When composing winter poems"
This is the third of four winter poems. When the first snow falls, it gathers on the branches of the mountain cherries of Yoshino so that they seem to bloom. The villagers are shut in for the winter, yet on the mountain the cherries have flowered. Set in Yoshino, famous for its cherry blossoms, the poem likens snow on the branches to cherry flowers.
Poems 565 and 567 in this book also liken the snow of Yoshino and snow on trees to blossoms, so the device of joining snow and cherry recurs throughout the book.

First line, “yamazakura”: yamazakura is the mountain cherry, here the cherry trees of Yoshino covered in snow.
Second line, “hatsuyuki fureba”: ba marks an established condition, when the first snow falls.
Third line, “sakinikeri”: nikeri is perfective and exclamatory, they have bloomed; the poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “Yoshino wa sato ni”: in Yoshino, in the village, naming Yoshino, famous for its cherries.
Fifth line, “fuyugomoredomo”: fuyugomoru is to stay shut in for the winter, and domo is concessive; this stands in inversion to the first three lines.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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