Kasumi tatsu haru no nagahi o koikurashi yo mo fukeyuku ni imo mo awanu ka mo

霞立つ春の長日を恋ひ暮らし
夜も更けゆくに妹も逢はぬかも

Roma-ji: Kasumi tatsu haru no nagahi o koikurashi yo mo fukeyuku ni imo mo awanu ka mo
English Translation: Where the haze is rising,
through the long, long day of spring
longing, I lived on,
and though night grows late and deep,
will my love not come to me?
Meaning: I spent the long spring day, when haze rises, in longing; and now, as the night grows late, will she not come to meet me?
Commentary: Book Ten Spring Love Poems 1894

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Spring Love Poems"
This poem spends a long spring day, when the haze rises, in longing, and waits for a beloved who does not come even as the night grows late. The length of the spring day is felt as the length of time spent enduring longing. As time moves from day to night, the ache of still not meeting deepens.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet of the Asuka period, active under Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu. The left note records that this poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection, and it is uncertain whether it is Hitomaro's own work or a poem by someone else that he recorded.

The first line, "where haze rises," modifies the spring day.
The second line, "the long day of spring," shows the lengthening days of spring.
The third line, "koikurashi," means spending the day in longing.
In the fourth line, "yo mo fukeyuku ni," "ni" is adversative, showing the passing of time as night follows day.
In the last line, "imo mo awanu ka mo," "nu ka mo" is a negative question expressing a wish, closing with the hope that she will come.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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