Composed and sent to the residence of the Superintendent Abbot of Tsurugaoka[i] on a morning when snow had fallen.
| tsuru no oka ōgite mireba mine no matsu kozue haruka ni yuki zo tsumoreru | When to the Hill of Cranes I lift up my gaze, On the peaks beyond, pine Treetops in the distance Are covered with drifted snow. |
623
[i] Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine (Tsurugaoka hachimangū 鶴岡八幡宮) is located in Yukinoshita in Kamakura and venerated Hachiman, the deity of war and warriors as the patron of the Minamoto clan. The shrine thus was, and still is, one of the focal points of the city and where many of its most important festivals are held. It was also the location of Sanetomo’s assassination in 1219. The Superintendent Abbot (bettō sōzu 別当僧都) to whom Sanetomo sent this time was probably the shrine’s third, Teigyō 定暁 (dates unknown) (Higuchi 2016, 96).
Composed on ‘lingering snow’, in a hundred poem sequence he presented for the reign of former emperor Horikawa.
道たゆといとひしものを山ざとにきゆるはをしき去年の雪かな
| miti tayu to ito Fisi mono wo yamazato ni kiyuru wa osiki kozo no yuki kana | That the way was blocked Was terrible, indeed, but At this mountain retreat As it vanishes, regret I feel For last year’s snow! |
Former Middle Counsellor Masafusa
A song to accompany an ancient Yamato dance performed for ten thousand generations, according to the Chronicles of Japan.
しもとゆふかづらき山にふる雪のまなく時なくおもほゆるかな
| simoto yuFu kadurakiyama ni Furu yuki no ma naku toki naku omoFoyuru kana | Withy tied Kazuraki Mountain, where Snow falls Without ever ceasing Do I think of you! |
Anonymous
For the place on a folding screen with a picture of snow falling somewhere with a large number of travellers.
かたしきの衣手いたくさえわびぬ雪ふかきよのみねの松風
| katashiki no koromode itaku saewabinu yuki fukaki yo no mine no matsukaze | A single spread Sleeve is truly filled With lonely chill, On a night deep amidst the snow With the pinewinds on the peak. |
587
雪ふりてあとははかなくたえぬともこしの山道やまずかよはん
| yuki furite ato wa hakanaku taenu tomo koshi no yamamichi yamazu kayowan | In the falling snow Your tracks but briefly Will endure, yet The mountain paths of Koshi Would I endlessly traverse.[i] |
586
[i] See: Composed to send off Ōe no Chifuru when he went to Koshi. 君がゆくこしのしら山しらねども雪のまにまにあとはたづねむ kimi ga yuku / koshi no shirayama / shiranedomo / yuki no manimani / ato wa tazunemu ‘My Lord, you go / To the mountains, so white, of Koshi— / I know them not, yet / While the snow endures / Would I seek your trail.’ Lord Fujiwara no Kanesuke (Kokinshū VIII: 391)
Snow amidst a journey
たび衣夜はのかたしきさえさえて野中の庵に雪降りにけり
| tabigoromo yowa no katashiki saesaete nonaka no io ni yuki furinikeri | In my traveller’s garb At midnight a single spread sleeve Is deeply chill, indeed Around my hut upon the plains Snow has fallen.[i] |
584
[i] See: In a hundred poem sequence: さむしろのよはの衣手さえさえてはつ雪しろしをかのべの松 samushiro no / yowa no koromode / saesaete / hatsuyuki shiroshi / oka no be no matsu ‘Alone in my meagre bedding, / My nightgown’s sleeves / Are deeply chill, indeed; / The first snows lie white / Upon the pines along the hillside.’ Princess Shokushi (Shinkokinshū VI: 662)
