Composed on falling snow
− Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Enshrouded in mists
trees come into bud,
for spring snow falls,
flowers scatter even in villages
where no flower blooms yet.
霞たち 木の芽もはるの 雪降れば 花なき里も 花ぞ散りける | Kasumi tachi ko no me mo haru no yuki fureba hana naki sato mo hana zo chirikeru |
Commentary
The poem was composed by Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之 (866 or 872–945?) − one of the leading poets of his day and one of the compilers of Kokinshū 古今集 (Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern; 905), the first imperial collection of Japanese poetry. Read more about the author here.
Originally placed in the beginning of the first book of spring poems of Kokinshū (Book 1), the poem is an early spring composition likening early spring snowfall to scattering flower petals. But while part of the poem’s charm lies in its timeless imagery, another part is in its original form and language, lending themselves to the almost impossible-to-translate poetic devices.
The first eleven syllables of the poem − kasumi tachi / ko no me mo haru − paint an image of trees budding in spring haze. Kasumi means “mist” or “haze” and is only used in spring, whereas kiri 霧 is used in autumn and winter (for an example, see asaborake / uji no kawagiri poem).
Engulfed (tachi) in spring haze (kasumi) are trees (ko) with buds (me) sprouting (haru).
This eleven-syllable section of the poem − kasumi tachi / ko no me mo haru − is considered a jokotoba 序詞 or poetic preface, which modifies haru in its second meaning. This is possible because haru is a pivot word, called kakekotoba 掛詞, used in its two meanings at the same time − first meaning for the preceding part of the sentence and the second one for the following. In this case, the first meaning and part of the jokotoba is “to bud”, “to sprout”, while the second meaning, modified by the jokotoba, is “spring” or “springtime”.
霞たち木の芽も張る kasumi tachi / ko no me mo haru |
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| 春の雪降れば haru no / yuki fureba... | |
The first eleven syllables with both meanings of haru can be taken to mean: springtime, when trees engulfed in mists come into bud. But because in the original haru is a pivot word, its “springtime” or “spring” meaning is the beginning of a new phrase, where the author proceeds to liken spring snow to scattering blossoms.
Haru no yuki fureba means “because spring snow falls”, the following hana naki sato mo – “even in villages, where there are no flowers”, and the final hana zo chirikeru – “it is flowers scattering”. The repetition of hana (“flowers”) in the final two seven-syllable lines adds rhythm, while the so familiar yet unforeseen analogy between spring snow and scattering blossoms demonstrates Tsurayuki’s ability to turn the most usual of imagery into an elegant and fascinating poetic composition.
While engulfed in haze the trees are only coming into bud, because of spring snow, it is as if flowers scatter even in villages, where there are no flowers yet.
Translation and commentary by author of the blog.