bitterly cold

白妙の, 白栲の: cloth or clothes dyed white, alludes to 衣 (koromo, “robe”), 袖 (sode, “sleeve”), 襷 (tasuki, “cord to tuck up a sleeve”), 袂 (tamoto, “sleeve pocket”), 紐 (himo, “cord, string”), 肩巾, 領布 (hire, “shawl”), etc.; the color white, alludes to 雲 (kumo, “clouds”), 波 (nami, “waves”), 浜の真砂 (hama no masago, “grains of sand at a beach”), 雪 (yuki, “snow”), etc.; homophonic wordplay element relating to the paper mulberry, alludes to 藤江の浦 (Fujie-no-ura), 黄鶏 (kashiwa, “chicken meat”), words prefixed with 夕 (yū, “evening”), etc.

任官: appointment to a position

to be careful / to be cautious