昨日かも霰降りしは信楽の
外山の霞春めきにけり
外山の霞春めきにけり
- Roma-ji
-
Kinō kamo arare furishi wa Shigaraki no toyama no kasumi harumekinikeri
- English Translation
-
Was it yesterday
that the hailstones fell, and yet
here at Shigaraki
the mist upon the near hills
has taken on the look of spring.
- Meaning
- Was it only yesterday that hail was falling? Yet already the mist on the low hills of Shigaraki has turned to the soft look of spring.
- Commentary
-
Book One Spring Poems 2
Only yesterday hail was falling, and today mist hangs over the hills of Shigaraki in the air of spring; the poem voices surprise at how quickly the season has changed.
The author is said to be Fujiwara no Korenari. Following the preceding poem, which announced spring with melting lake ice, this one finds spring's arrival in the mist on the hills.
In the first line, "was it yesterday," "kamo" expresses doubt, a thinking back on whether the hail fell only yesterday; it stresses how close winter still is.
In the second line, "that the hailstones fell," "shi" is the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki," marking winter's lingering trace; with the first line it underscores how near the boundary of the seasons lies.
The third line, "Shigaraki," is a place in Ōmi sung as a deep, mountainous land; after Shiga in the preceding poem, place names of Ōmi follow one another.
In the fourth line, "the mist upon the near hills," "toyama" are hills close to human dwellings, and mist is the classic sign of spring's arrival.
The last line, "has taken on the look of spring," is an exclamation of realization with "keri." The same phrase appears in the second line of the next poem and the last line of 13, linking the sequence as a word that heralds spring.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kōri ishi Shiga no Karasaki uchitokete sazanami yosuru harukaze zo fuku
- Next Poem
-
Furusato wa harumekinikeri Miyoshino no Mikakigahara o kasumi kometari