Miyako dani yuki furinureba shigaraki no maki no somayama ato taenuramu - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

都だに雪降りぬれば信楽の
真木の杣山跡絶えぬらむ

Roma-ji: Miyako dani yuki furinureba shigaraki no maki no somayama ato taenuramu
English Translation: If even the capital
has now been covered in snow,
then at Shigaraki
the timber hills of cedar
must have lost every trace of feet
Meaning: If snow has fallen even in the capital, then on the timber hills of Shigaraki every trace of passersby must have vanished.
Commentary: Book Four Winter Poems 291

If snow has fallen even in the capital, then surely on the timber hills deep in Shigaraki every trace of passersby has vanished, the poet imagines. From the snow in the capital the poet gauges the depth of snow in a far mountain village.
The next poem, 292, also sings of 'all trace gone', and two poems imagining villages where snow has erased the traces of people stand side by side.
Poems 277 through 293 in this book center on snow, with poems on falconry set among them at 281 through 283.
The author, Ryūgen, was a monk holding the rank of ajari, a son of Fujiwara no Michimune, Governor of Wakasa. He was one of the poets of the Horikawa Hundred-Poem Sequences.

First line, 'miyako dani', means even the capital, dani naming the lesser case to imply the greater.
Second line, 'yuki furinureba', means since snow has fallen, a definite condition.
Third line, 'shigaraki no', is Shigaraki in Ōmi, known for its timber hills.
Fourth line, 'maki no somayama', means the timber hills of cedar and cypress.
Final line, 'ato taenuramu', means every trace of passersby must have vanished, closing with the present conjecture ramu. 'All trace gone' is also sung in the next poem, 292.
Author: Ryūgen
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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