Toki wa ima wa haru ni narinu to miyuki furu tōyama no he ni kasumi tanabiku

時は今は春になりぬとみ雪降る
遠山の辺に霞たなびく

Roma-ji: Toki wa ima wa haru ni narinu to miyuki furu tōyama no he ni kasumi tanabiku
English Translation: Now the time has come,
now the season turns to spring,
and where snow still falls
on the distant mountainsides
the haze of spring trails across
Meaning: As if to say the season has now turned to spring, haze trails along the distant mountains where snow still falls.
Commentary: Book Eight Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1439

Headnote: "A poem by Nakatomi no Ason Muraji"
Seeing haze trail across distant mountains where snow still falls, the poet senses that the season has turned to spring. The poem captures a scene on the boundary of the seasons, where winter snow and spring haze overlap on the same mountains.
The author, Nakatomi no Muraji, is thought to have been a member of the Nakatomi clan, but nothing more is known of his career.

The first line repeats "wa" to stress the present moment; it has an extra syllable.
The second line, with the perfective "nu," means "saying that spring has come," portraying the haze as if it announced the season.
In the third line, "mi" is an honorific prefix, and the line shows that snow is still falling.
The fourth line names the area around distant mountains. Like the "distant treetops" of 1422 in this book, it finds signs of spring in the far view of the mountains.
The final line sets the haze, emblem of spring, at the end, impressing on us the shift from winter to spring.
Author: Nakatomi no Muraji
Source: Manyoshu
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