Iwabashiru tarumi no ue no sawarabi no moeizuru haru ni narinikeru kamo

石走る垂水の上のさわらびの
萌え出づる春になりにけるかも

Roma-ji: Iwabashiru tarumi no ue no sawarabi no moeizuru haru ni narinikeru kamo
English Translation: Over the rocks it rushes,
and beside the falling stream
the young bracken shoots
are sprouting forth: spring has come,
the season has come at last
Meaning: Spring has come at last, the season when young bracken shoots push up beside the waterfall that rushes over the rocks.
Commentary: Book Eight Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1418

Headnote: "A poem of rejoicing by Prince Shiki"
This poem captures bracken just beginning to sprout beside a waterfall that rushes over the rocks, and rejoices at the arrival of spring. Because the headnote speaks of "rejoicing," it is thought to have been composed on some happy occasion, though the circumstances are unknown. Its bright cadence, in which the vigor of the water and the life of the young shoots become one, has made it one of the most celebrated spring poems of the Man'yōshū, and it opens Book Eight.
The author, Prince Shiki, was a son of Emperor Tenji and the father of Emperor Kōnin. After his death he was honored with the title Emperor Kasuga-no-miya.
The poem was later included in the first book of spring poems of the Shin Kokin Wakashū, in a slightly altered form.

The first line, "iwabashiru," means rushing over the rocks. Some take it as a pillow word for "tarumi" (waterfall), others as a description of the actual scene; either way, it sets the force of the water at the very start of the poem.
In the second line, "ue" means the vicinity or edge; the gaze moves to the bank where the water falls.
In the third line, "sa" is a prefix denoting young bracken that has just sprouted. By linking the first three lines with "no," the poem narrows its focus from the water to the young shoots.
The fourth line lays the arrival of spring itself over the sprouting of the bracken.
The final line piles up the perfective "nu," the exclamatory "keri," and the particle "kamo" to express the fresh realization that spring has come. Against this opening poem heralding spring, the closing poem of the book, 1663, sings of sleeping alone on a snowy night, so Book Eight begins with the joy of new growth and ends with the loneliness of winter.
Author: Prince Shiki
Source: Manyoshu
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