朝ごとの鏡の影に面なれて
雪見にとしも急がれぬかな
雪見にとしも急がれぬかな
- Roma-ji
-
Asagoto no kagami no kage ni omonarete yukimi ni to shimo isogarenu kana
- English Translation
-
Every morning now
the image in my mirror
has grown so familiar
that to go and view the snow
I feel no haste at all
- Meaning
- So used have I grown to the reflection in my mirror each morning that I feel no urge to hurry out to view the snow.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Winter Poems 289
Having grown used to the white hair seen in the mirror every morning, the poet feels no urge to go out and view the snow. Using the traditional figure of white hair as snow, the poem ties the lament of old age to the elegant pastime of snow viewing with a touch of wry humor.
Where poem 272 in this book called the ice of a valley stream a mirror no one looks into, this poem sings of a mirror looked into every morning.
Poems 277 through 293 in this book center on snow, with poems on falconry set among them at 281 through 283.
First line, 'asagoto no', means every morning's.
Second line, 'kagami no kage ni', means in the image in the mirror, hinting at the white hair reflected there. It contrasts with 'a mirror no one looks upon' in poem 272 in this book.
Third line, 'omonarete', means growing used to it.
Fourth line, 'yukimi ni to shimo', means even to go snow viewing, shimo being an emphatic particle; the white hair in the mirror is likened to snow.
Final line, 'isogarenu kana', means I feel no haste, closing with the negated spontaneous ru and the exclamatory kana.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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