葛城や雲をこだかみ雪白し
あはれと思ふ年の暮れかな
あはれと思ふ年の暮れかな
- Roma-ji
-
Katsuragi ya kumo o kodakami yuki shiroshi aware to omou toshi no kure kana
- English Translation
-
On Katsuragi,
so high above the clouds,
the snow shines white—
with what deep feeling I watch
the closing of the year!
- Meaning
- Mount Katsuragi rises so high above the clouds that its snow gleams white—how deeply I feel the closing of the year!
- Commentary
-
Winter Poems 401
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The year's end"
Mount Katsuragi rises so high above the clouds that the snow on its summit gleams white, the poet sings, and closes with how deeply the year's end moves him. Looking up at the white snow on the high mountain, he is stirred by the passing year.
According to the source's note, the Teika text gives kumo, "cloud," in line 2 as yama, "mountain," and the Ruijū and Teika texts give lines 4 and 5 as aware zo omou toshi no kurenuru. This edition follows the source text.
Line 1 names Mount Katsuragi on the border of Yamato and Kawachi, with ya an exclamatory particle; it is the same word as line 3 of 368.
Line 2 uses o … mi to show cause, "because it is higher than the clouds."
Line 3 declares "the snow is white," and the poem pauses here. It is the same as line 3 of 366.
Line 4 means "deeply moved."
Line 5 is the same as that of the two preceding poems, the third of the year's-end poems.
- Author
- Minamoto no Sanetomo
- Source
- Kinkaishu
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Shirayuki no furu no yama naru sugimura no suguru hodo naki toshi no kure kana
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Oiraku no kashira no yuki o todomeokite hakana no toshi ya kurete yukuramu