Itazura ni tatsu ya asama no yūkeburi sato toikanuru ochikochi no yama

English Translation

All to no avail
rises the smoke of Asama
in the evening light;
I cannot ask where villages lie
among the mountains far and near.

Meaning

The evening smoke of Asama rises all to no avail; among the mountains far and near, I cannot find where any village lies.

Commentary

Book Ten Travel Poems 958

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the topic 'Evening on a journey' at a poetry contest of the Poetry Bureau."
This is the ninth of a sequence of poems on the road at nightfall and lodging for the night. The evening smoke of Asama rises in vain, and the traveler cannot tell where a village might lie among the mountains far and near, the forlornness of one seeking lodging at dusk. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Evening on a journey" at a poetry contest of the Poetry Bureau.
The author, "Masatsune Ason," is Fujiwara no Masatsune. He was a poet of the early Kamakura period and one of the compilers of the Shin Kokin Wakashū.
The scene is dusk on a journey, in mountains looking out on Mount Asama in Shinano Province.
The direct occasion is composing on the topic "Evening on a journey" at a poetry contest held at the Poetry Bureau.
The source poem is Ariwara no Narihira's 903, "The smoke rising from the peak of Asama in Shinano: could anyone, near or far, see it and not marvel?" This poem takes from it the words "tatsu," "Asama," "keburi," and "ochikochi."

The first line, "itazura ni," means "in vain." It shows that the smoke is of no help to the traveler.
The second line, "tatsu ya asama no," means "rising at Asama." The particle "ya" expresses feeling. It takes up "asama no take ni tatsu keburi" in the source poem.
The third line, "yūkeburi," means "the evening smoke." The poem breaks after this third line. The volcanic plume of the source poem becomes evening smoke, suggesting the cooking fires of houses, yet giving no help.
The fourth line, "sato toikanuru," means "unable to ask where a village lies." It shows the forlornness of not even knowing where a village might be when seeking lodging at dusk.
The last line, "ochikochi no yama," means "the mountains far and near," ending on a noun. Where "ochikochibito" in the source poem are people who marvel at the smoke, in this poem there is no one, only mountains far and near, recasting a poem of wonder as a poem of forlornness.

Author

Fujiwara no Masatsune

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other