Wakite kyō Ōsakayama no kasumeru wa tachiokuretaru haru ya koyuran

わきて今日逢坂山の霞めるは
立ち遅れたる春や越ゆらん

Roma-ji: Wakite kyō Ōsakayama no kasumeru wa tachiokuretaru haru ya koyuran
English Translation: Today above all,
that Ōsaka Mountain lies in haze:
is it because spring,
having set out later than we,
is crossing over the pass?
Meaning: Why is Mount Ōsaka so hazy today above all? Could it be that spring, having set out later than we did, is crossing over the mountain only now?
Commentary: Spring Poems 9

Headnote: "When spring had come, I went along with someone travelling to the village of Shiga to avoid an ill-omened direction, and seeing Mount Ōsaka veiled in haze"
According to the headnote, the poet accompanied someone going to the village of Shiga to avoid an unlucky direction, and saw Mount Ōsaka wrapped in haze. He imagines that the haze lies so thick on the pass between the capital and Ōmi because spring, which set out later than the travellers, is now crossing the mountain behind them.
The charm lies in overlaying the travellers' crossing of the mountain with spring's own journey over it. It is a light, witty poem that reads the haze as the trail of spring on the road.

First line, “wakite kyō”: wakite means especially, today above all.
Second line, “Ōsakayama no”: the mountain on the border of Yamashiro and Ōmi, site of the Ōsaka barrier and a key route from the capital toward Shiga.
Third line, “kasumeru wa”: that it is hazy, introducing the conjecture about the reason.
Fourth line, “tachiokuretaru”: having started out late; tachi echoes the rising of haze, and spring is personified as a traveller who set out behind.
Fifth line, “haru ya koyuran”: the interrogative ya forms a kakari-musubi with the conjectural ran, closing with the question of whether spring is crossing the mountain now.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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