Furu yuki ni todachi mo miezu uzumorete toridokoro naki mikarino no hara

降る雪に鳥立ちも見えず埋もれて
とりどころなき御狩野の原

Roma-ji: Furu yuki ni todachi mo miezu uzumorete toridokoro naki mikarino no hara
English Translation: In the falling snow
not even where the birds take wing
can now be seen, all buried:
no place for birds, nothing to grasp,
the hunting moor lies blank.
Meaning: Buried by the falling snow, even the places where birds gather and take flight can no longer be seen: the hunting moor offers no birds and nothing to take hold of.
Commentary: Winter Poems 525

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Falconry in the snow"
This is the second poem on the topic of falconry in the snow and the third in the falconry sequence. The falling snow has buried even the spots where birds gather and take flight, so the hunting moor offers neither a place where birds are nor anything to take hold of. The poem catches a hunting ground covered in snow, where every clue to the quarry has been lost.
Where the preceding poem told of loosing the hawk even in the snow, this one tells of a hunting ground where the snow hides even the whereabouts of the game, closing the sequence with a moor covered in snow.

First line, “furu yuki ni”: in the falling snow, with ni marking the cause.
Second line, “todachi mo miezu”: a hypermetric line of eight syllables; todachi is the place where birds gather and take flight in falconry.
Third line, “uzumorete”: completely covered and hidden.
Fourth line, “toridokoro naki”: toridokoro is a pivot word, the place where birds are and something to grasp.
Fifth line, “mikarino no hara”: mikarino is a moor used as a hunting ground, and the poem ends on a noun.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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