Tsuki yomeba imada fuyu nari shikasuga ni kasumi tanabiku haru tachinu to ka

月数めばいまだ冬なりしかすがに
霞たなびく春立ちぬとか

Roma-ji: Tsuki yomeba imada fuyu nari shikasuga ni kasumi tanabiku haru tachinu to ka
English Translation: Counting by the months
it is winter still, and yet
even so the haze
trails across the sky: is it
that the spring has come, they say?
Meaning: By the months it is still winter, and yet the haze is trailing; can it be that spring has come?
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4492

Headnote: "On the twenty-third day, a banquet at the residence of Ōhara no Imaki, junior assistant minister of Ceremonial; one poem."
By the months it is still winter, yet the haze is trailing; has spring come, then? The poem sings of the gap between calendar and season. According to the headnote, it comes from a banquet at Imaki's residence on the twenty-third of the twelfth month. The left note attributes it to Ōtomo no Yakamochi, Middle Controller of the Right. That year the beginning of spring fell within the twelfth month, and the poem marvels at seeing spring haze in a winter month.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Middle Controller of the Right.

The first line, "tsuki yomeba," "counting the months," gives the season by the calendar.
The second line, "imada fuyu nari," "it is still winter," ends the first sentence.
The third line, "shikasuga ni," "and yet," turns concessively to the lower half.
The fourth line, "kasumi tanabiku," "the haze trails," is a spring scene, sharing the hazy moon Kannabi no Ikago sang of at the earlier banquet.
The closing line, "haru tachinu to ka," "has spring begun, they say?" ends with doubt and delight.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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