Kasumazu wa nani o ka haru to omowamashi mada yuki kienu Miyoshino no yama

霞まずは何をか春と思はまし
まだ雪消えぬみ吉野の山

Roma-ji: Kasumazu wa nani o ka haru to omowamashi mada yuki kienu Miyoshino no yama
English Translation: If there were no haze,
what could I take to be spring
in such a place, here
where the snow still has not melted,
in the hills of fair Yoshino?
Meaning: Were it not for the haze, what could I take as a sign of spring here in the mountains of Yoshino, where the snow has not yet melted?
Commentary: Spring Poems 11

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
In the mountains of Yoshino, where snow still lingers, the poet says that only the haze tells of spring's coming. By asking what one could possibly take as spring if there were no haze, the poem strongly conveys how precious the haze is.
The snowy mountains of Yoshino still wear the look of winter, and the contrast with the haze alone announcing spring is vivid. Like the slender valley stream in the preceding poem, this poem finds the first signs of spring amid the lingering traces of winter.

First line, “kasumazu wa”: if there were no haze, a supposition contrary to fact.
Second line, “nani o ka haru to”: the interrogative ka forms a kakari-musubi with mashi in the third line.
Third line, “omowamashi”: mashi is the counterfactual auxiliary answering the supposition, asking what one would take to be spring, with a break after the third line.
Fourth line, “mada yuki kienu”: the snow has not yet melted, a scene still of winter; the upper and lower halves are inverted.
Fifth line, “Miyoshino no yama”: the poem closes on the noun, naming the snowy mountains of Yoshino; mi is an honorific prefix.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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