Fuyu fukami kōri ni tozuru yamakawa no kumu hito nashi to toshi ya kurenamu

冬深み氷に閉づる山川の
汲む人なしと年や暮れなむ

Roma-ji: Fuyu fukami kōri ni tozuru yamakawa no kumu hito nashi to toshi ya kurenamu
English Translation: Deep in the winter
the mountain stream lies sealed
beneath the ice,
and with no one to draw from it
will the year come to its end?
Meaning: So deep is the winter that the mountain stream lies sealed in ice; with no one coming to draw its water, will the year simply draw to its close?
Commentary: Winter Poems 337

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A winter night"
The mountain stream lies sealed in ice in the depths of winter, and the poet wonders whether the year will end with no one coming to draw its water. He layers the loneliness of a frozen river forsaken by people with the nearness of the year's end.
According to the source's note, the Ruijū text gives line 4 as kumu hito nashi ni and the Teika text gives kumu hito nashimi. This edition follows the source text.

Line 1 uses mi to show cause, "because winter is deep," taking up fuyu fukaki at the start of the preceding poem.
Line 2 means "shut in by ice," the same as line 4 of 315.
Line 3 is a river flowing through the mountains.
Line 4 means "as there is no one to draw its water."
Line 5 concludes ya with na, the conjunctive of the perfective nu, and the conjectural mu, wondering whether the year will end. It looks ahead to the year-end poems at the close of the section.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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