Kinō koso toshi wa hateshika harugasumi kasuga no yama ni haya tachinikeri

昨日こそ年は果てしか春霞
春日の山に早立ちにけり

Roma-ji: Kinō koso toshi wa hateshika harugasumi kasuga no yama ni haya tachinikeri
English Translation: Only yesterday
the old year came to its end,
yet the haze of spring
over Kasuga's mountain
has risen already now.
Meaning: Only yesterday the old year ended, and yet already the spring haze has risen over Mount Kasuga.
Commentary: Book Ten Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1843

Headnote: "On Haze"
This poem expresses surprise that spring haze has already risen over Mount Kasuga though the year has only just turned, and it stands at the head of the group headed "On Haze." Contrasting the one-day change from old year to new with the haze that appears so swiftly in response, it marvels at the speed of the season's turning. Like 1812 at the head of the book, it knows spring by the haze, so the haze group echoes the Hitomaro Collection's haze poems that open the book.

In the first line, "kinō koso," "koso" is an emphatic particle forming a kakari-musubi with "shika" in the second line, stressing the nearness of yesterday.
In the second line, "toshi wa hateshika," "shika" is the perfective form of the past auxiliary "ki," answering "koso." Ending in this form implies a contrast: though the year ended only yesterday.
The third line, "spring haze," is the subject, and it echoes the "haru" of "Kasuga" in the next line, smoothing the rhythm.
The fourth line, "on Mount Kasuga," names the mountain east of the Nara capital, showing that a sign of spring has appeared on a mountain familiar to people of the capital.
In the last line, "haya tachinikeri," "keri" expresses exclamatory realization, closing with surprise that the haze had already risen.
Source: Manyoshu
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