雪積もる年のしるしにいとどしく
千歳の松の花咲くぞ見る
千歳の松の花咲くぞ見る
- Roma-ji
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Yuki tsumoru toshi no shirushi ni itodoshiku chitose no matsu no hana saku zo miru
- English Translation
-
As a sign this year
will be rich, with snow piled high,
all the more I see
on the pine of a thousand years
the blossoms come to bloom
- Meaning
- As a sign of a bountiful year, the snow piles up, and all the more I see the thousand-year pine bursting into flower.
- Commentary
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Book Five Celebration Poems 329
Snow piling up is a sign of a bountiful year, and the snow on the thousand-year pine looks all the more like blossoms, the poem says. Layering the belief that snow foretells a good harvest with the traditional figure of snow as flowers, it celebrates the reign through the blossoms of a thousand-year pine.
The pine was said to bloom once in a hundred years, ten times in a thousand, and its flowers were a sign of long life and good fortune.
From poem 329 through poem 332 in this book come poems, centered on snow and pines, celebrating a reign without end.
First line, 'yuki tsumoru', means snow piling up, snow being a sign of a bountiful year.
Second line, 'toshi no shirushi ni', means as a sign of a rich year, toshi also meaning the harvest of grain.
Third line, 'itodoshiku', means all the more.
Fourth line, 'chitose no matsu no', means of the pine that lives a thousand years.
Final line, 'hana saku zo miru', means I see it bloom, zo binding with the attributive miru, likening the snow on the pine to blossoms. The next poem, 330, also sings of 'the pine in bloom'.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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Mizugaki no hisashikarubeki kimi ga yo o amateru kami ya sora ni shiruramu
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Tsumorubeshi yuki tsumorubeshi kimi ga yo wa matsu no hana saku chitabi miru made