Ware nomi zo kanashi to wa omou nami no yoru yama no hitai ni yuki no furereba

我のみぞ悲しとは思ふ波のよる
山の額に雪の降れれば

Roma-ji: Ware nomi zo kanashi to wa omou nami no yoru yama no hitai ni yuki no furereba
English Translation: It is I alone
who feel such sorrow at it—
where the waves draw near,
upon the mountain's brow
because the snow has fallen.
Meaning: It is I alone who feel this sorrow—for the snow has fallen on the brow of the mountain where the waves come rolling in.
Commentary: Winter Poems 376

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Snow"
Seeing snow fallen on the brow of the mountain where the waves roll in, that is, around the summit of a mountain facing the sea, the poet sings that he alone feels sorrow. Since the wording calls to mind wrinkles on a person's brow and white hair, some read in it an image of old age.
The Ruijū text places this poem in the miscellaneous section.

Line 1: zo is a binding particle concluded in line 2.
Line 2 concludes zo with the attributive omou, and the poem pauses here.
Line 3 means "where the waves draw near," the waves washing at the mountain's foot.
Line 4: hitai, "brow," likens the area about the mountain's summit to a person's forehead.
Line 5 means "because the snow has fallen," revealing last, by inversion, the reason for the sorrow. The next poem and 380 end with the same line.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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