Kimi ga tame
Haru no no ni idete
Wakana tsumu
Waga koromode ni
Yuki wa furi-tsutsu.
THE EMPEROR KWŌKŌ
Mother, for thy sake I have been
Where the wakana grow,
To bring thee back some fresh green leaves;
And see—my koromo
Is sprinkled with the snow!
Kwōkō was raised to the throne by the Fujiwara family, when the mad Emperor Yōzei was deposed; he reigned A.D. 885–887, and is said to have composed this verse in honour of his grandmother.
Wakana, literally ‘young leaves’, is a vegetable in season at the New Year; a koromo is really a priest’s garment, but is used here for the Emperor’s robe.
In the picture we see the Emperor gathering the fresh green leaves, and the snow falling from the sky.
