Kokoroguki mono ni zo arikeru harugasumi tanabiku toki ni koi no shigeki wa

心ぐきものにぞありける春霞
たなびく時に恋の繁きは

Roma-ji: Kokoroguki mono ni zo arikeru harugasumi tanabiku toki ni koi no shigeki wa
English Translation: Heavy on the heart,
how cheerless a thing it is,
when the haze of spring
trails across the sky, to find
my longing crowding thick and fast
Meaning: How heavy and cheerless it is, I have found, when longing crowds in thick and fast at the time the spring haze trails across the sky.
Commentary: Book Eight Spring Love Poems 1450

Headnote: "A poem by Ōtomo no Sukune Lady Sakanoue"
The poet sings that it is truly cheerless when longing crowds in during the mild season when spring haze trails across the sky. The dim, hazy spring landscape and her clouded heart are laid one upon the other.
The author, Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue, was a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and a half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito. She was the aunt of Ōtomo no Yakamochi and later also his mother-in-law, and she left many poems in the Man'yōshū.

The first line, "kokoroguki," describes a heavy, cheerless heart.
The second line forms a kakari-musubi between "zo" and "keru," the attributive of the exclamatory "keri," expressing a belated realization. The poem pauses here.
The third line names the spring haze, which echoes the clouded heart.
The fourth line means "when it trails across."
The final line means "that longing grows so thick," revealing at the end, by inversion, the reason for her gloom.
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Manyoshu
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