Tamari iru kozue no yuki no haru naraba yamazato ika ni motenasaremashi

たまり居る梢の雪の春ならば
山里いかにもてなされまし

Roma-ji: Tamari iru kozue no yuki no haru naraba yamazato ika ni motenasaremashi
English Translation: The snow piled and caught
upon the tips of branches—
were it spring's blossoms,
how this village in the hills
would be welcomed and admired!
Meaning: If the snow piled on the treetops were the blossoms of spring, how warmly people would welcome this mountain village!
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1488

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on Snow"
The sixth of the ten poems on snow. If the snow piled on the treetops were spring blossoms, how this mountain village would be made much of.
Likening the snow on the branches to blossoms, it sings of the loneliness of a mountain village neglected because its whiteness is snow, though blossoms would draw visitors. It links the blossom and snow poems, overlaying blossoms on snow to bring out the solitude of the village in winter.

First line, “tamari iru”: lying piled up.
Second line, “kozue no yuki no”: the snow on the branch tips.
Third line, “haru naraba”: if it were spring's blossoms, the counterfactual condition.
Fourth line, “yamazato ika ni”: how much this mountain village.
Fifth line, “motenasaremashi”: mashi is counterfactual, "would be made much of."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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