noun
freshly budded bracken
A seasonal word (kigo) for spring, referring to young bracken shoots just emerging from the ground. Often used in haiku and traditional poetry.
See also: 蕨
早蕨が顔を出すと、山にも春が来たと感じる。
When the young bracken shoots appear, I feel that spring has come to the mountains.
俳句では「早蕨」は春の季語としてよく詠ま
In haiku, 'sawarabi' is often used as a spring seasonal word.
蕨 refers to bracken in general or the mature plant, while 早蕨 specifically means the young, freshly budded shoots in early spring.
Compound of 早 (sa-, 'early') and 蕨 (warabi, 'bracken'). The initial 'sa-' is an old prefix meaning 'early' or 'young', seen in other seasonal words like 早苗 (sanae).