Toshi fureba samuki shimo koso saekerashi kōbe wa yama no yuki naranaku ni

年ふれば寒き霜こそ冴えけらし
頭は山の雪ならなくに

Roma-ji: Toshi fureba samuki shimo koso saekerashi kōbe wa yama no yuki naranaku ni
English Translation: As the years go by,
the cold frost, it seems,
grows keener still—
though this head of mine
is not the snow upon the hills.
Meaning: As the years pass, the cold frost seems to grow ever keener—though this white head of mine is not the snow on the mountains.
Commentary: Winter Poems 392

Headnote: "On an old man disliking the cold"
This poem was composed on the theme of an old man disliking the cold. As the years pass, the cold frost seems to bite ever more keenly, the poet sings, though his whitened head is not the snow on the mountains. Likening white hair to frost and snow, he sings with wit the cold that pierces the aging body.
The Ruijū text places this poem in the miscellaneous section. The Teika text gives line 2 as samuki shimoyo zo.

Line 1 means "as the years go by," marking old age.
Line 2: koso is a binding particle concluded in line 3; shimo, "frost," carries the sense of white hair.
Line 3 concludes koso with kerashi, inferring that the cold grows keener, and the poem pauses here.
Line 4 refers to the poet's own whitened head. In 402 too, white hair is sung as "the snow upon my head."
Line 5 means "though it is not snow," likening the white head to mountain snow even as it denies it.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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