Toshi no uchi wa tou hito sara ni araji kashi yuki mo yamaji mo fukaki sumika o

年のうちは訪ふ人さらにあらじかし
雪も山路も深き住処を

Roma-ji: Toshi no uchi wa tou hito sara ni araji kashi yuki mo yamaji mo fukaki sumika o
English Translation: Till the year is out
no one at all will come to call,
of that I am sure,
for the snow and mountain paths
lie so deep around my home.
Meaning: Until the year is over, no one at all will come to visit, I am sure, to this dwelling where both the snow and the mountain paths lie so deep.
Commentary: Winter Poems 570

Headnote: "Snow at a mountain dwelling"
The topic is snow at a mountain dwelling. To this dwelling, where the snow lies deep and the mountain paths run far into the hills, no one at all will come to visit before the new year. The heart that waited for visitors turns to resignation, showing resolve to spend the snowbound winter alone.
Following the preceding poem on a village whose path is closed, this one judges that no visitor will come before the year ends, and the poems on visiting here turn toward the close of the year.

First line, “toshi no uchi wa”: a hypermetric line of six syllables, within the year, showing that the year's end is near.
Second line, “tou hito sara ni”: sara ni, with a negative, means not at all.
Third line, “araji kashi”: ji is negative conjecture and kashi adds emphasis, surely there will be none; the poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “yuki mo yamaji mo”: both the snow and the mountain paths, set side by side and modified by fukaki in the last line.
Fifth line, “fukaki sumika o”: sumika is a dwelling, and o, tinged with feeling, gives the reason; this stands in inversion to the first three lines.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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