Haru wa kite yuki wa kienishi ko no moto ni shiroku mo hana no chiritsumoru kana

春は来て雪は消えにし木のもとに
白くも花の散り積もるかな

Roma-ji: Haru wa kite yuki wa kienishi ko no moto ni shiroku mo hana no chiritsumoru kana
English Translation: Spring has come at last,
and the snow has melted away;
beneath the trees now,
white as ever, blossoms
fall and gather into drifts.
Meaning: Spring has come and the snow has melted, yet beneath the trees the white blossoms fall and pile up once more.
Commentary: Spring Poems 84

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Blossoms resembling snow"
Beneath trees where the snow should have melted with spring's arrival, white petals now fall and pile up like snow. The poem sees the passing of seasons in the exchange of snow for blossoms and leaves a pure, clear impression. Kamo no Mabuchi marked it with a circle.
The Teika text differs in the first line.

Line 1, "Spring has come," marks the change of seasons.
Line 2: nishi combines perfective and past, showing the snow has already vanished.
Line 3 names the place where the blossoms pile up.
Line 4: mo adds emotion, stressing a whiteness like snow.
Line 5: kana expresses wonder. Where the preceding poem, 83, likened blossoms to falling snow, here they are likened to lying snow, contrasting time: after the snow melts, flowers pile up in its place.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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