Tayumitsutsu sori no hayao mo tsukenaku ni tsumorinikeri na Koshi no shirayuki

たゆみつつ橇の早緒も付けなくに
積もりにけりな越の白雪

Roma-ji: Tayumitsutsu sori no hayao mo tsukenaku ni tsumorinikeri na Koshi no shirayuki
English Translation: Growing slack, off guard,
not yet tying on the ropes
to draw the sledges,
how deep it has piled up now,
the white snow of the north country!
Meaning: While people grew careless and had not even tied the hauling ropes to their sledges, how deep it has piled up already, the white snow of the northern land of Koshi.
Commentary: Winter Poems 529

Headnote: "When composing poems on snow"
This was composed when the poet was writing poems on snow. In the snow country of Koshi, while the people were still off guard and had not yet tied the hauling ropes to their sledges, the white snow has already piled up deep. The poet's thoughts go to life in the snowy north, catching the force of a snow that comes early and deep.
By bringing in the sledge and its hauling rope, tools of life in the snow country, the poem conveys the depth of the snow of Koshi, unlike the snow of the capital.

First line, “tayumitsutsu”: tayumu is to grow slack or careless, and tsutsu shows continuation.
Second line, “sori no hayao mo”: hayao is the rope for hauling a sledge.
Third line, “tsukenaku ni”: naku ni means though not, though they had not readied the sledges.
Fourth line, “tsumorinikeri na”: nikeri is perfective and exclamatory, and na an exclamatory particle, how it has piled up; the poem breaks after the fourth line.
Fifth line, “Koshi no shirayuki”: Koshi is an old name for the Hokuriku region, sung of as a land of deep snow. The poem ends on a noun, placing the subject of the fourth line last in inversion.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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