山里は

冬ぞさびしさ

まさりける

人目も草も

かれぬと思へば

みなもとのむねゆきあそん

やまざとは

ふゆぞさびしさ

まさりける

ひとめもくさも

かれぬとおもえば

Minamoto no Muneyuki

On a mountain ham

Winter lonesomeness surely

Grows so much deeper

When men and pasture

Have all gone, so do I feel.

Hokusai

Minamoto no Muneyuki (died in 939), was an early Heian waka poet and nobleman with the title Ason or Asomi. He is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. Emperor Koko (poem 15) was his grandfather. He is mentioned in the Tales of Yamato.

作者略伝と語釈

Are the men on the woodcut (hunters?) enjoying the warmth of the fire or are they frightened by something that resembles ghosts escaping from the flames? They have come here on skis and the hut seems old and abandoned. To me they look very relieved and are eagerly warming themselves. One of them is warming his bum. One might even see a hand in the smoke trying to warm itself.