Haru shire to tani no hosomizu mori zo kuru iwama no kōri hima taenikeri

春知れと谷の細水漏りぞ来る
岩間の氷ひま絶えにけり

Roma-ji: Haru shire to tani no hosomizu mori zo kuru iwama no kōri hima taenikeri
English Translation: Know that spring is here,
the slender stream in the vale
comes seeping through now:
the ice between the boulders
has broken and given way.
Meaning: As if to say, know that spring has come, a thin stream comes trickling down the valley; the ice that sealed the rocks has cracked and broken apart.
Commentary: Spring Poems 10

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem depicts the winter ice between the rocks of a valley beginning to melt, so that a thin stream comes seeping out. That small trickle is taken as a message telling the poet to know that spring has come.
Instead of showy emblems such as haze or plum blossoms, the poet finds the first sign of spring in an inconspicuous thread of water, and one senses the attentive eye of someone who lives among the mountains.

First line, “haru shire to”: know that spring has come, personifying the valley water as announcing spring.
Second line, “tani no hosomizu”: a slender stream flowing through the valley.
Third line, “mori zo kuru”: the emphatic particle zo forms a kakari-musubi with the attributive kuru, with a break after the third line; the water seeps out through gaps in the ice.
Fourth line, “iwama no kōri”: the ice between the rocks that closed off the stream all winter.
Fifth line, “hima taenikeri”: the ice has cracked and broken off, closing with the exclamatory keri.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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