Yuki to shimo magai mo hatezu unohana wa kurureba tsuki no kage ka to mo miyu - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

雪としもまがひもはてず卯の花は
暮るれば月の影かとも見ゆ

Roma-ji: Yuki to shimo magai mo hatezu unohana wa kurureba tsuki no kage ka to mo miyu
English Translation: Not just mistaken
all too wholly for the snow,
the deutzia flower,
when dusk falls, can also seem
to be the shining moonlight
Meaning: It is not only snow that the deutzia resembles; when evening falls, its blossoms can also seem to be the light of the moon.
Commentary: Book Two Summer Poems 100

The deutzia is not merely mistaken for snow; when evening falls it can also seem to be moonlight. By changing the comparison with the hour, snow by day and moonlight at dusk, the poem layers image upon image of the flower's whiteness.
From poem 98 through poem 103 in this book, poems on the deutzia follow one another, likening the flower to snow, to moonlight, to hedges and to sacred ropes.

First line, 'yuki to shimo', uses the emphatic particle shimo, stressing 'as snow'. It builds on 'stealing the color of the snow' in poem 98, presupposing the familiar likeness of deutzia and snow.
Second line, 'magai mo hatezu', uses magau, to resemble so closely as to be confused, meaning it is not wholly mistaken for snow.
Third line, 'unohana wa', sets out the topic, and the lower half offers another comparison.
Fourth line, 'kurureba tsuki no', means when evening falls, the moon's, adding the passage of the hour.
Final line, 'kage ka to mo miyu', uses kage in the sense of light: it may seem to be moonlight. Poem 141 in this book likens moonlight spread across a garden to white snow, so the images of snow and moonlight echo one another.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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