Yuki mireba imada fuyu nari shikasuga ni harugasumi tachi ume wa chiritsutsu

雪見ればいまだ冬なりしかすがに
春霞立ち梅は散りつつ

Roma-ji: Yuki mireba imada fuyu nari shikasuga ni harugasumi tachi ume wa chiritsutsu
English Translation: When I see the snow,
it is winter still, and yet
even so, and still
the haze of spring has risen
and the plum keeps scattering.
Meaning: When I look at the snow, it is still winter—and yet the spring haze has risen, and the plum blossoms go on scattering.
Commentary: Book Ten Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1862

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Flowers"
This poem sings of the intertwining of seasons: looking at the snow, it is still winter, and yet spring haze has risen and the plum is scattering. Using "shikasuga ni," so frequent in the snow group, it gathers into one poem the early spring scene where winter and spring are mixed. Snow, haze, and plum, the themes of the book's opening groups, all appear here, so the poem stands as if looking back over the many faces of early spring.

The first line, "when I see the snow," uses "ba" as an established condition.
The second line, "it is still winter," asserts winter's lingering, and the poem breaks here.
The third line, "shikasuga ni," means and yet, the adversative word used since 1832.
The fourth line, "spring haze rises," is hypermetric and shows the haze as a sign of spring.
In the last line, "the plum keeps scattering," "tsutsu" marks continuation. Like 1834, "the plum has bloomed and scattered," it closes with plum blossoms falling on and on.
Source: Manyoshu
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