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Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
坂上是則
朝ぼらけ
有明の月と
見るまでに
吉野の里に
降れる白雪
よしののさ
とにふれる
しらゆき
あさぼらけあ
- Poem 31
- 朝ぼらけ
有明の月と
見るまでに
吉野の里に 降れる白雪
Author: Sakanoue no Korenori (dates unknown)
Source: Kokin Wakashū, Winter
- English Verse Translation
- Surely the morning moon, I thought, Has bathed the hill in light But, no; I see it is the snow
That, falling in the night, Has made Yoshino white.
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- In the early morning light, the village of Yoshino is blanketed in white — it looks just like the pale glow of the dawn moon.
- Commentary
- "Asaborake" is a word most often used in autumn and winter, referring to the moment just before dawn breaks. The village of Yoshino (in present-day Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture) is famous today for its cherry blossoms, but at the time it was known instead for its snow. Yoshino, where Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō once retreated into seclusion, also seems to have been a place of romantic longing for Heian-period aristocrats.
- About the Poet
- Sakanoue no Korenori was a descendant of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, the shōgun who subdued the Emishi. He once served as junior deputy governor of Yamato Province, so he is thought to have been well acquainted with Yoshino. Besides his skill as a poet, he was also known as a master of kemari (court football).
- Sakanoue no Korenori's Chart of the Heart
-
A chart and a modern-language reflection of the poet's inner feelings.
The Poet's Feelings (A Personal Interpretation)
In the stillness of early dawn,
I glance outside on a whim.What I took for moonlight
was snow, fallen white across the land.
- Poem Illustration
-
This image is based on an illustration from William N. Porter's A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, his 1909 English translation of the Hyakunin Isshu published in England, colorized and reworked using Adobe Firefly (generative AI).