Haru tatsu to kiki tsuru kara ni Kasugayama kie aenu yuki no hana to miyu ramu - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

春立つと聞きつるからに春日山
消えあへぬ雪の花と見ゆらむ

Roma-ji: Haru tatsu to kiki tsuru kara ni Kasugayama kie aenu yuki no hana to miyu ramu
English Translation: Spring has risen, so
I hear, and just from that alone,
upon Kasuga's hill
the snow that has not yet melted—
why should it look like flowers?
Meaning: I have only just heard that spring has begun, and already the snow lingering on Mount Kasuga seems to me like blossoms. Why should that be?
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems I 2

Headnote: "Composed on the day spring began."
On the first day of spring, the poet sees the snow still lingering on Mount Kasuga as blossoms. The poem captures, with light surprise, how merely hearing that spring has come by the calendar makes the leftover snow of winter look like flowers.
According to the headnote, it was composed on the day spring began. The conceit is that the joy of greeting the calendar's spring transforms the very appearance of the landscape.
The poet, Ōshikōchi no Mitsune, was one of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū, he served as a minor official in Kai and Izumi provinces, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

The first line, "Spring has risen," marks the beginning of spring. It takes up "spring has come" from the preceding poem, 1, continuing the sequence of poems for the first day of spring.
In the second line, "kara ni" means "as soon as" or "merely because." The hearing of spring comes before the actual scenery.
The third line, "Kasugayama," is a mountain at Kasuga in Yamato Province. Its name contains the character for spring, making it fitting for a poem on spring's arrival.
In the fourth line, "kie aenu," "aenu" means "unable to fully," describing snow that has not quite melted away.
The last line, "hana to miyu ramu," likens the snow to flowers. "Ramu" conjectures a cause, asking why it should appear as blossoms.
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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