Yama no ma ni uguisu nakite uchinabiku haru to omoedo yuki furishikinu

山の際に鴬鳴きてうち靡く
春と思へど雪降りしきぬ

Roma-ji: Yama no ma ni uguisu nakite uchinabiku haru to omoedo yuki furishikinu
English Translation: Between the mountains
the warbler is singing now;
grasses bending soft,
spring it is, or so I thought—
yet the snow keeps falling thick.
Meaning: Between the hills the bush warbler sings, and I thought spring, with its bending grasses, had come—yet the snow has come falling thick and fast.
Commentary: Book Ten Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1837

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Snow"
This poem expresses surprise that snow falls thickly just when a warbler singing between the hills had made the poet think spring had come. The warbler's song, a sign of spring in the bird group, meets the spring snow that is the theme of this group within a single poem, expressing the wavering of a season where spring and winter intertwine. It may be said to stand as a bridge between the two groups.

In the first line, "yama no ma ni," "ma" means the space between mountains, a mountain gap. The same word appears in 1848 and 1849.
The second line, "the warbler sings," shows a sign of spring, taking up the theme of the bird group.
The third line, "uchinabiku," is a pillow word for "spring," used repeatedly throughout the book's opening groups.
In the fourth line, "haru to omoedo," "do" is an adversative particle, showing the gap between the heart's belief in spring and the reality of the next line.
In the last line, "yuki furishikinu," "shiku" means to pile up or come thickly and "nu" marks completion. It shows the reality of the thick snowfall and closes with surprise at a spring expectation betrayed.
Source: Manyoshu
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