Composed on the path through the Shiga Mountains.
白雪のところもわかずふりしけばいはほにもさく花とこそ見れ
sira yuki no
tokoro mo wakazu
Furisikeba
iFaFo ni mo saku
Fana to koso mire |
The white snowfall
On every side
Has fallen, covering all, so
Even on the crags bloom
Flowers, or so it seems. |
Ki no Akimine
Composed as a Winter poem.
雪ふれば冬ごもりせる草も木も春にしられぬ花ぞさきける
yuki Fureba
Fuyugomoriseru
kusa mo ki mo
Faru ni sirarenu
Fana zo sakikeru |
As the snow falls down,
Sealing in Winter
All the plants and trees,
Unknown in Spring
Flowers bloom. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Topic unknown.
わがやどは雪ふりしきてみちもなしふみわけてとふ人しなければ
wa ga yado Fa
yuki Furisikite
miti mo nasi
Fumiwakete tofu
Fito si nakereba |
At my home
The snow lies round about
And the path has vanished;
Forging through to call on me
Comes not a soul… |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
ふるさとはよしのの山しちかければひと日もみ雪ふらぬ日はなし
Furusato Fa
yosino no yama si
tikakereba
FitoFi mo miyuki
Furanu Fi Fa nasi |
Where once I lived,
To the mount of Yoshino
Was so near, that
A single day where snow
Fell not, was never seen. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
この河にもみぢば流るおく山の雪げの水ぞ今まさるらし
kono kaFa ni
momidiba nagaru
okuyama no
yukige no midu zo
ima masarurasi |
Along the river
Drift scarlet leaves;
In the mountain heart
Snow-melt waters
Must be rising even now. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
ふる雪はかつぞけぬらしあしひきの山のたぎつせおとまさるなり
Furu yuki Fa
katu zo kenurasi
asiFiki no
yama no tagitu se
oto masaru nari |
The falling snow
Must vanish in the moment
Leg-wearying
The seething mountain rapids
Roar grows ever louder. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
今よりはつぎてふらなむわがやどのすすきおしなみふれるしら雪
ima yori Fa
tugite Furanamu
wa ga yado no
susuki osinami
Fureru siranami |
Henceforth,
Oh, that it would keep on falling
In my garden,
Bowing down the miscanthus,
Drifting white snowflakes. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
ゆふされば衣手さむしみよしののよしのの山にみ雪ふるらし
yuFu sareba
koromode samusi
miyosino no
yosino no yama ni
miyuki Fururasi |
When the evening falls,
How cold my sleeves…
In fair Yoshino
On Yoshino mountain,
Snow must be falling. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
おほぞらの月のひかりしきよければ影見し水ぞまづこほりける
oFozora no
tuki no Fikari si
kiyokereba
kage misi midu zo
madu koForikeru |
From the firmament
The moonlight is
So pure,
The waters touched by its beams
Are the first to freeze. |
Anonymous
Composed as a Winter poem.
山里は冬ぞさびしさまさりける人めも草もかれぬと思へば
yamazato Fa
Fuyu zo sabisisa
Masarikeru
Fitome mo kusa mo
karenu to omoFeba |
In a mountain home
Winter is when loneliness
Overwhelms me;
The bustle of folk and the grasses, too,
Have withered away, I feel. |
Minamoto no Muneyuki (d.939)
'Simply moving and elegant'