Nawashiro no mizu o kasumi wa tanabikite uchihi no ue ni kakuru narikeri

苗代の水を霞はたなびきて
打樋の上にかくるなりけり

Roma-ji: Nawashiro no mizu o kasumi wa tanabikite uchihi no ue ni kakuru narikeri
English Translation: Over the water
of the seedling bed, the haze
trails out long and low,
and above the flume as well
it is drawn across, I see.
Meaning: The haze trails over the water of the seedling bed, and I see it hangs across the wooden flume as well, just as the water is carried along it.
Commentary: Spring Poems 50

Headnote: "The rice seedling bed"
The topic is the rice seedling bed. Haze trails over the water of the bed where rice seedlings are raised, and even hangs above the wooden flume that carries water into the fields, a spring scene of farm country.
Kakuru joins the haze hanging over things with water being channelled along the flume, depicting haze and water spreading in the same way. After the preceding poems on birds, the topic shifts here to the scene of the fields.

First line, “nawashiro no”: of the bed where rice seedlings are raised.
Second line, “mizu o kasumi wa”: over the water, the haze, singling out the haze as subject.
Third line, “tanabikite”: trailing in long bands.
Fourth line, “uchihi no ue ni”: above the flume laid across to carry water.
Fifth line, “kakuru narikeri”: kaku is a pivot word meaning both the haze hanging over and water being channelled through the flume, closing with keri of realization.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Yamazato e tare o mata ko wa yobukodori hitori nomi koso suman to omou ni
Next Poem: Kumo nakute oboro nari tomo miyuru kana kasumi kakareru haru no yo no tsuki