Moshio yaku ura no atari wa tachinokade keburi tachisou harugasumi kana

藻塩焼く浦のあたりは立ちのかで
煙立ち添ふ春霞かな

Roma-ji: Moshio yaku ura no atari wa tachinokade keburi tachisou harugasumi kana
English Translation: Where they burn sea-salt,
all along the bay's curved shore,
never drifting off,
with the smoke that joins it now,
how the spring haze lingers there!
Meaning: Along the bay where salt is burned from seaweed, the spring haze never drifts away, and the smoke of the salt fires rises to join it. How deep the spring haze lies!
Commentary: Spring Poems 12

Headnote: "On the topic “Haze along the shore”"
The topic is haze along the shore. Where seaweed is burned for salt, the spring haze lingers on and never drifts away, and the smoke of the salt fires rising to join it makes the haze seem all the deeper.
The ingenuity lies in combining the smoke of salt-making, an image of seaside life, with haze, an emblem of spring. Repeating tatsu in tachinoku and tachisou conveys haze and smoke rising together as one.

First line, “moshio yaku”: burning seaweed soaked in seawater to make salt, a typical scene of seaside life.
Second line, “ura no atari wa”: around the bay where the salt is burned.
Third line, “tachinokade”: without departing, meaning the haze stays on over the bay.
Fourth line, “keburi tachisou”: the smoke of the salt fires rises to join the haze; repeating tachi from the third line shows haze and smoke merging.
Fifth line, “harugasumi kana”: the exclamatory kana closes the poem with wonder at the depth of the spring haze mingled with smoke.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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