冬ごもる寂しさ思ふ朝な朝な爪木の道を埋む白雪
fuyugomoru
sabishisa omou
asana asana
tumaki no michi o
uzumu shirayuki |
Walled in by winter
I feel the sadness;
Every morning
The path to the firewood
Buried in snow. |
萌出る峰の早蕨雪消て折過ぎにける春ぞ知らるゝ
moe izuru
mine no sawarabi
yuki kiete
ori suginikeru
haru zo shiraruru |
Just sprouting
On the peaks are the bracken buds and
The snows are gone;
That we have past the best days
Of spring, I know well. |
里人の裾野の雪を踏分てたゞ我ためと若菜つむらん
satobito no
susono no yuki o
fumiwakete
tada wa ga tame to
wakana tsumuran |
The village folk
Through the snow upon the mountains’ skirts
Do tread;
Yet, for my sake do any
Pluck fresh herbs, I wonder? |
Upon hearing this, as the snow falls:
かへるさの道ゆくべくもおもほえずこほりて雪の降りしまされば
kaFeru sa no
miti yukubeku mo
omoFoezu
koForite yuki no
Furisi masareba |
Upon my homeward
Path of setting foot
I cannot think:
For ’tis frozen and snow
Has fallen fine atop it. |
In reply:
朝戸あけて春の木末の雪みれば初花ともやいふべかるらん
asato akete
Faru no kozuwe no
yuki mireba
FatuFana tomo ya
iFubekaruran |
On opening my morning door, and
In springtime on the treetops
Snow seeing,
‘First flowers’, perhaps
I should call it… |
Master of the Crown Prince’s Household Office [Fujiwara no] Kinzane (1053-1107)
Sent around the First Day of the First Month, when snow was falling:
あらたまの年のはじめに降りしけば初雪とこそいふべからりけれ
aratama no
tosi no Fadime ni
Furisikeba
Fatuyuki to koso
iFubekarikere | When at the jewel-bright, new
Year’s beginning
It falls so heavily,
‘First snow’,
I should call it. |
Master of the Office of Palace Repairs [Fujiwara no] Akisue (1055-1123)
His reply:
ふる雪にまことにしのやいかならんけふはみやこにあとだにもなし
furu yuki ni
makoto ni shinoya
ikanaran
kyo wa miyako ni
ato dani mo nashi |
In the falling snows,
Truly, of your bamboo-thatched hut
What is to become, I wonder.
On this day in the capital
Not even footprints do remain… |
[Fujiwara no] Mototoshi
Sent to Mototoshi on a snowy morning.
つねよりもしのやのゝきぞうづもるゝけふは宮こにはつ雪やふる
tsune yori mo
shinoya no noki zo
uzumoruru
kyo wa miyako ni
hatsuyuki ya furu |
It’s extraordinary?
The eaves of my bamboo-thatched hut
Are buried;
On this day in the capital,
Are the first snows falling? |
The Sage Sensai
窓の雪つんでこそこそばくち哉
mado no yuki
tsunde koso koso
bakuchi kana |
Beyond my window
Snow piles everywhere
And the world is white. |
衽形に吹込む雪や枕元
okuminari
fukikomu yuki ya
makuramoto |
All around, a coat is
Blown in: snow
Beneath my pillow |
'Simply moving and elegant'