春霞かすめる方や津の国の
ほのみしま江のわたりなるらむ
ほのみしま江のわたりなるらむ
- Roma-ji
-
Harugasumi kasumeru kata ya Tsu no kuni no honomishimae no watari naruramu
- English Translation
-
Where the spring haze lies
so hazy in the distance —
in the land of Tsu,
is that faintly glimpsed Mishima
Inlet, I wonder, over there
- Meaning
- Where the spring haze hangs so dimly in the distance — is that, I wonder, the shore of Mishima Inlet in the land of Tsu, which I can only faintly glimpse?
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 272
Gazing at the far-off quarter where the spring haze hangs, the poet wonders whether it is the area around Mishima Inlet in Settsu Province. Overlaying the place name Mishima with "hono-mi" (to glimpse faintly), the poem captures in soft cadences a waterside scene barely visible through the haze.
This poem opens the first book of miscellaneous poems. The book that begins with haze at Mishima Inlet in Settsu closes with the final poem, 347, which sings of the moon lodged among the reeds of Naniwa Inlet in the same province. The next two poems, 273 and 274, also sing of haze, making a run of three haze poems.
The first line, "harugasumi" (spring haze), names the haze that trails in spring and repeats the word in "kasumeru" of the second line for rhythm.
The second line, "kasumeru kata ya," uses the attributive of the continuative "ri" for the hazy quarter and poses a question with "ya."
The third line, "Tsu no kuni no," refers to Settsu Province.
The fourth line, "honomishimae no," is a pivot word joining "hono-mi" (to glimpse faintly) with Mishima Inlet, a poetic place in Settsu.
The final line, "watari naruramu," combines the copula "nari" and the attributive conjectural "ramu," closing "ya" in a kakari-musubi that wonders whether that is the place.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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Wasuraruru hitome bakari o nageki nite koishiki koto no nakaramashikaba
- Next Poem
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Suma no ura ni yaku shiogama no keburi koso haru ni shirarenu kasumi narikere