There is an effortlessness about these verses which might deceive us into thinking that the rules had been ignored, but verse after verse will be found to be in perfect conformity. The opening one tells us that the season is early spring, when the haze first hovers over the mountains still covered with the winter’s snow. The place is indicated as the Minase River by its allusion to this poem by the Emperor Gotoba (1180–1239):
| miwataseba | When I look far out |
| yamamoto kasumu | The mountain-slopes are hazy |
| Minase-gawa | Minase River— |
| yabe wa aki to | Why did I think that only in autumn |
| nani omoikemu | The evenings could be lovely? |
And Sōgi tells us that it is evening, thus giving the season, place and time as required. The second verse helps to complete the opening one by continuing the theme of early spring in its mention of the plum-blossoms, the first flowers of the year. It also helps further to identify the setting as the Minase River in its mention of the flowing water, an allusion to another poem on the subject. The third verse also mentions the spring, in keeping with the rule, and continues the water image. The fourth verse breaks the spring image, but continues the water one to three, and also satisfies the requirement of smoothness. There are many other subtleties which it would be difficult to explain here, but the important thing is that in spite of the hampering rules, a poem emerges of surpassing grace and beauty. It is a poem unlike any ever written in the West, as far as I know, in that its only unity is from one verse to the next. Each verse is linked to the one before and the one after, but whereas, for example, the first verse tells us it is evening, the fourth verse is about the early morning; again, in the sixth verse we are told that autumn is drawing to a close, although the first three
