Haru wa mazu wakana tsumamu to shimeokishi nobe to mo miezu yuki no furereba

春はまづ若菜摘まむと標めおきし
野辺とも見えず雪の降れれば

Roma-ji: Haru wa mazu wakana tsumamu to shimeokishi nobe to mo miezu yuki no furereba
English Translation: In spring, first of all,
I would gather the young greens—
the field I had marked
no longer looks like that field,
for the snow has fallen deep.
Meaning: I had marked off a field, meaning to gather young greens there first thing in spring, but it no longer looks like that field at all—the snow has fallen and covered it.
Commentary: Spring Poems 6

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The beginning of spring"
The field the poet had marked, intending to gather young greens there as soon as spring came, is covered by snow and can no longer be recognized. The contrast between his eager anticipation of gathering greens and the lingering snow of winter gives the poem its early-spring charm. Kamo no Mabuchi marked it with a circle.
This poem was included in the Shinsenzai Wakashū, where the last line reads "while the snow keeps falling." The Ruijū and Teika texts begin "When spring arrives." One character in the third line of the base text is hard to read, so the common reading shimeokishi has been adopted.

Line 1: mazu ("first of all") means before anything else once spring arrives.
Line 2: mu expresses intention, conveying the poet's eagerness to gather greens. Young greens are a spring motif that reappears in 17 and 18.
Line 3: shimu means to set a mark claiming a place as one's own, and shi is the attributive form of the past auxiliary ki.
Line 4, "no longer looks like that field," means it cannot be told apart, and the poem pauses here.
Line 5, "for the snow has fallen deep": the resultative auxiliary ri in its realis form re with ba gives the reason, in inversion. Following the preceding poem, 5, it again portrays snow that falls even after spring has come.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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