Tsu no kuni no ashi no maroya no sabishisa wa fuyu koso wakete toubekarikere

津の国の葦の丸屋の寂しさは
冬こそわけて訪ふべかりけれ

Roma-ji: Tsu no kuni no ashi no maroya no sabishisa wa fuyu koso wakete toubekarikere
English Translation: In the land of Tsu,
the reed-thatched hut and all its
loneliness, I find,
is in winter above all
the thing that one should visit.
Meaning: The loneliness of a reed-thatched hut in the land of Tsu is something one should visit in winter, above all other seasons.
Commentary: Winter Poems 559

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten winter poems"
This is the third of the ten winter poems. The loneliness of a rough hut thatched with reeds in the land of Settsu, famous for its reeds, is something to be visited and savored in winter above all other seasons. The poem treats the loneliness of winter itself as a mood worth going to experience.
Where the poems before it were set in winter mountain villages, this one is set in a hut among the reeds of Settsu, echoing the reeds of Naniwa Bay sung in 510 and 514 of this book.

First line, “Tsu no kuni no”: Tsu no kuni is the province of Settsu, which includes Naniwa, famous for its reeds.
Second line, “ashi no maroya no”: maroya is a rough hut thatched with reeds or grass.
Third line, “sabishisa wa”: the loneliness, marking the theme of the poem.
Fourth line, “fuyu koso wakete”: wakete means especially, and koso is an emphatic particle binding with the perfective kere in the last line.
Fifth line, “toubekarikere”: tou is to visit, and bekarikere means one should have visited; it closes in the perfective required by koso.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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