Michisugara fuji no keburi mo wakazariki haruru ma mo naki sora no keshiki ni

English Translation

All along the way
I could not make out the smoke
rising from Mount Fuji,
for the sky gave not a moment
of clearing all the while.

Meaning

All along the road I could not make out even the smoke of Mount Fuji, for the sky never cleared for a moment.

Commentary

Book Ten Travel Poems 975

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the second of a sequence of poems of personal reflection on a journey. All along the road the sky never cleared, so that even the smoke of Mount Fuji could not be made out, a scene on the Tōkaidō. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Former Major Captain of the Right Yoritomo," is Minamoto no Yoritomo. A son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, he founded the Kamakura shogunate and became Major Captain of the Right Palace Guards and Seii Taishōgun.
The scene is a journey along the Tōkaidō, on a road within view of Mount Fuji.
The direct occasion is not recorded.

The first line, "michisugara," means "all along the way." It gives a scene spanning the whole road.
The second line, "fuji no keburi mo," means "even the smoke of Fuji." Mount Fuji is a famous place sung of as a mountain sending up smoke. Following the smoke of Mount Asama sung of in 903 and 958, the smoke of an eastern mountain is sung of again.
The third line, "wakazariki," means "I could not make out." Closing with the past "ki," the poem breaks after this third line.
The fourth line, "haruru ma mo naki," means "with no moment of clearing." It shows a sky whose clouds never lift.
The last line, "sora no keshiki ni," means "because of the look of the sky." By inversion, the reason for not seeing comes last. Where 903 sings of the smoke of Asama that all far and near would marvel at, this poem sings of a road where even the famed smoke of Fuji cannot be seen, contrasting smoke seen and unseen.

Author

Minamoto no Yoritomo

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other