夏の夜の庭に降りしく白雪は
月の入るこそ消ゆるなりけれ
月の入るこそ消ゆるなりけれ
- Roma-ji
-
Natsu no yo no niwa ni furishiku shirayuki wa tsuki no iru koso kiyuru narikere
- English Translation
-
On this summer night
the white snow that lies spread
all across the garden
only when the moon has set
does it melt away, I find
- Meaning
- The white snow lying all across the garden on this summer night melts away, I find, only when the moon sets.
- Commentary
-
Book Two Summer Poems 141
What seemed white snow spread over the garden on a summer night was moonlight, and so it melts away only when the moon sets. Likening the moonlight that whitens the garden to snow, the poem conveys the coolness of a summer night.
The likening of moonlight to snow echoes poem 100 in this book, which saw the deutzia both as snow and as moonlight.
The author, Akinaka (Minamoto), is Minamoto no Akinaka. A son of Minamoto no Akifusa, he served as Head of the Department of Divinities. He was the father of Taikenmon'in no Horikawa and Jōsaimon'in no Hyōe.
First line, 'natsu no yo no', gives season and hour, leading to the unexpected pairing of summer and snow.
Second line, 'niwa ni furishiku', uses furishiku, to fall and cover everything.
Third line, 'shirayuki wa', is the snow standing for moonlight, presented as the topic.
Fourth line, 'tsuki no iru koso', means only when the moon sets; koso binds with the realis kere in the final line. Here it is first revealed that the snow is moonlight.
Final line, 'kiyuru narikere', means it is then that it vanishes, disclosing the conceit with a note of wonder.
- Author
- Minamoto no Akinaka
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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