The spring-worn robe of haze, its weft threads thin,
by the mountain wind is like to be torn and rent.

Meaning

The robe called spring haze, worn in spring, has thin weft threads; blown by the mountain wind, it seems as though it might be torn and fray.

Commentary

Spring Songs, Book One

The drifting spring haze is likened to a robe of thin silk, and the poem fashions the conceit that, because its weft threads are weak, it might be torn by the wind blowing down from the mountains.

Author

Ariwara no Yukihira

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Other

For your sake I go out into the spring fields to gather young greens; on my sleeves the snow continues to fall.
Perhaps going to Kasuga Field to gather young greens, people go with the sleeves of their white garments fluttering.
Even the green of ever-constant pines, when spring comes, now deepens by yet another degree.
Each time the spring rain falls on my beloved’s robe, the green of the fields alone deepens its color.

The spring-worn robe of haze, its weft threads thin, by the mountain wind is like to be torn and rent.

The spring-worn robe of haze, its weft threads thin,
by the mountain wind is like to be torn and rent.