Haru tatsu to omoi mo aenu asaide ni itsushika kasumu Otowayama kana

春立つと思ひもあへぬ朝出でに
いつしか霞む音羽山かな

Roma-ji: Haru tatsu to omoi mo aenu asaide ni itsushika kasumu Otowayama kana
English Translation: Spring has come, they say,
yet before I can believe,
stepping out at dawn,
I find it veiled already,
Otowa Mountain in haze.
Meaning: Before I could truly feel that spring had come, I stepped out early in the morning, and there was Otowa Mountain, already veiled in haze.
Commentary: Spring Poems 3

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on the morning when spring arrived"
This is the third poem for the morning of spring's arrival. Going out early, before the feeling that spring has come has had time to settle, the poet is surprised to find Otowa Mountain already in haze. The heart of the poem is the discovery that the change of season shows itself in the landscape before the human heart catches up.
Following the preceding poem, which confirmed spring from the haze on the ridgeline, this poem names a particular mountain and sings of the same hazy scene. It carries a fresh surprise at a spring that arrives sooner than the heart is ready for.

First line, “haru tatsu to”: spring has begun; to marks this as the content of the thought in the next line.
Second line, “omoi mo aenu”: aenu, the verb au with the negative zu, means unable to fully do something; the poet cannot yet quite think it is spring.
Third line, “asaide ni”: asaide means going out early in the morning.
Fourth line, “itsushika kasumu”: itsushika means before one knows it, expressing surprise that the landscape has turned to spring ahead of the heart.
Fifth line, “Otowayama kana”: the poem names Otowa Mountain, on the border of Yamashiro and Ōmi, and closes with the exclamatory kana.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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