Kasumi tatsu nonoe no kata ni yukishikaba uguisu nakitsu haru ni narurashi

霞立つ野の上の方に行きしかば
鴬鳴きつ春になるらし

Roma-ji: Kasumi tatsu nonoe no kata ni yukishikaba uguisu nakitsu haru ni narurashi
English Translation: Where the haze rises,
toward the edges of the fields
when I went walking,
there the warbler sang its song:
spring, it seems, is on its way
Meaning: When I went out toward the fields where haze was rising, a warbler sang; it seems that spring is coming.
Commentary: Book Eight Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1443

Headnote: "A poem by Tajihi no Mahito Otomaro [the second son of Yanushi no Mahito]"
Going out toward the fields where haze was rising, the poet heard a warbler and sensed that spring was coming. The visible sign of haze and the audible sign of the warbler's voice overlap, making the arrival of spring certain. The poem is placed beside that of his father, Tajihi no Yanushi.
The author, Tajihi no Otomaro, was the second son of Tajihi no Yanushi, as the note in the headnote says.

The first line presents the fields veiled in haze.
The second line means "toward the edges of the fields."
The third line is a definite condition formed by the past "shika" plus "ba," meaning "when I went."
The fourth line, with the perfective "tsu," states firmly that the warbler sang, and the poem pauses here. Warblers also appear in 1431 and 1441 of this book.
The final line, with the inferential "rashi," infers the coming of spring from the warbler's voice. Like "spring seems to have come" in 1422 of this book, it is a poem that learns of spring from its signs.
Author: Tajihi no Otomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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