Higurashi ni yamaji no kinō shigureshi wa fuji no takane no yuki ni zo arikeru - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

日暮らしに山路の昨日時雨しは
富士の高嶺の雪にぞありける

Roma-ji: Higurashi ni yamaji no kinō shigureshi wa fuji no takane no yuki ni zo arikeru
English Translation: All the day long
upon the mountain road, yesterday,
the showers that fell
were, on the lofty peak of Fuji,
falling down as snow.
Meaning: The showers that fell on me all day yesterday along the mountain road were, high on the peak of Fuji, falling as snow.
Commentary: Book Four Winter Poems 155

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The showers that fell all day yesterday as he traveled the mountain road, the poet realizes on looking up today, had been snow whitening the lofty peak of Fuji. Linking the showers at the foot and the snow on the summit as one and the same, the poem vividly shows how the season differs with height.
In the Shōhō printed edition this poem and the next are reversed, so that this one falls under the next poem’s “topic unknown.”

First line, “higurashi ni”: “all day long.”
Second line, “yamaji no kinō”: “on the mountain road yesterday,” layering time and place.
Third line, “shigureshi wa”: “shi,” the attributive of past “ki,” nominalizes “that it showered.” Taking up the shower poems, it turns the showers into snow.
Fourth line, “fuji no takane no”: the high peak of Mount Fuji in Suruga, following Yoshino in the preceding poem as a mountain of snow.
Fifth line, “yuki ni zo arikeru”: “zo” is answered by “keru,” an exclamation of realizing that it was snow after all.
Author: Ōe no Yoshitoki
Source: Shika Wakashu
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