Nami kosu to Futami no matsu no mietsuru wa kozue ni kakaru kasumi narikeri

波越すと二見の松の見えつるは
梢にかかる霞なりけり

Roma-ji: Nami kosu to Futami no matsu no mietsuru wa kozue ni kakaru kasumi narikeri
English Translation: As if waves rolled past,
so the pines of Futami
had appeared to me:
it was only the haze that
hung about their topmost boughs.
Meaning: The pines of Futami looked as though waves were washing over them, but it was only the haze clinging to their tops.
Commentary: Spring Poems 13

Headnote: "On the same theme, at a place called Futami in Ise"
The same theme in the headnote is the haze along the shore of the preceding poem, and the headnote in the source bears the note “haze along the shore.” Composed at Futami Bay in Ise, the poem records the surprise of realizing that what looked like white waves surging over the pines on the beach was really haze hanging on their branches.
It is a poem of mistaken appearance, seeing haze as waves, a pairing fitting for the seaside. After the salt smoke and haze of the preceding poem, it treats the same topic of shore haze through another scene.

First line, “nami kosu to”: as if waves were rolling over the pines, describing how the scene first appeared.
Second line, “Futami no matsu no”: the pines growing on the shore of Futami Bay in Ise.
Third line, “mietsuru wa”: tsuru is the attributive form of the perfective tsu, meaning what had looked so, leading into the revelation of the lower half.
Fourth line, “kozue ni kakaru”: hanging on the tips of the pine boughs.
Fifth line, “kasumi narikeri”: keri expresses realization, closing by revealing that what seemed waves was haze.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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