降る雪に杉の青葉も埋もれて
しるしも見えず三輪の山もと
しるしも見えず三輪の山もと
- Roma-ji
-
Furu yuki ni sugi no aoba mo uzumorete shirushi mo miezu miwa no yamamoto
- English Translation
-
In the falling snow
even the green cedar leaves
lie buried away,
and no sign of them is seen
at the foot of Miwa's hill
- Meaning
- Buried by the falling snow, even the green leaves of the cedars cannot be seen, and there is no landmark left at the foot of Mount Miwa.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Winter Poems 285
The cedar's green leaves are buried by falling snow, and the landmark cedar can no longer be seen at the foot of Mount Miwa. Drawing on the Kokinshū poem in which one living at the foot of Miwa bids a visitor come to the gate where the cedar stands, the poem hides that landmark under snow to depict a mountain village shut in by winter.
Poems 277 through 293 in this book center on snow, with poems on falconry set among them at 281 through 283.
First line, 'furu yuki ni', means in the falling snow, the cause of the cedars being buried.
Second line, 'sugi no aoba mo', means even the green leaves of the cedars, the evergreen green covered by snow.
Third line, 'uzumorete', means buried.
Fourth line, 'shirushi mo miezu', means no sign is seen, the cedar that served as the visitor's landmark in the source poem now hidden.
Final line, 'miwa no yamamoto', is the foot of Mount Miwa in Yamato, closing with a noun and taking the phrase straight from the source poem.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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