Spring haze appears
in many varied hues—
it must be so,
because the blossoms’ colors
show through the veiled mountains.
- Meaning
- The spring haze seems to take on many different hues—perhaps it is because the colors of blossoms on the veiled mountains show through.
- Commentary
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Book II, Spring Poems (Part Two)
A poem paired in a poetry contest at the imperial court during the Kanpyō era.
The haze appears tinged with color, and the poet imagines that this is because the hues of blossoms blooming on the mountains beneath it faintly show through.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Okikaze
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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- The one I awaited does not come—so, for that reason, the blossom where the warbler perched I have broken off.
- Though blossoms that bloom are of many kinds, all are but fleeting, who is there that can utterly resent the coming of spring?
- Though distant lie the springtime hills veiled in rising haze, the wind that comes to me bears the scent of blossoms.
- Seeing the blossoms, even my heart has changed its hue; yet I shall not show it in my face, lest others come to know.