[31] あさぼらけあ (Asaborakea)

 Poem Meaning and Background

"Kameyama, the clear sky after snow",
by Utagawa Hiroshige

あさぼらけ・ありあけのつきと・みるまでに

asaborake・ariake no tsuki to・Miru made ni

よしののさとに・ふれるしらゆき

Yoshino no sato ni・fureru shirayuki

〜坂上是則 (Sakanoue no Korenori)

Translation

At the break of day,

Just as though the morning moon

Lightened the dim scene,

Yoshino's village lay

In a haze of falling snow.

Meaning

The author of this poem was working as a local government official in Nara, and was visiting a village called Yoshino (吉野の里). This village is famous for its cherry blossoms in spring, as well as its deep snow in winter. The poet is awoken in the wee hours of the morning and notices a faint light outside, which he assumes to be the moon, but when he looks he is surprised to see a pure-white, snow covered scene laid out before him. This poem captures his awe at awaking to see a landscape transformed, pillowed in white and faintly lit by the reflection off the snow. 

Asaborake is the time of day just before sunrise, when it is still dark but hints of light are starting to appear. Ariake no tsuki refers to when the moon remains in the sky in these pre-dawn hours. Fureru shira yuki means that while the author is looking at this scenery, the snow is still continuing to fall. 

Author

A depiction of the author and
his poem by the artist Agameishi

Sakanoue no Korenori (date unknown ~ 930) was a famous poet of the early Heian Period and is known as one of the 36 Immortals of Poetry. He was also famous for being a top tier kemari player. Kemari is a traditional, non-competitive ball game similar to hackey-sack or juggling a soccer ball with ones' foot. The goal is for players to cooperate to keep the ball from touching the ground using any part of their body except their arms and hands. 

If you're interested, here's an example of people playing kemari: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWPzIz8LYWg