Tsukubayama hayama shigeyama shigekeredo omoiiru ni wa sawarazarikeri - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

筑波山端山繁山しげけれど
思ひいるには障らざりけり

Roma-ji: Tsukubayama hayama shigeyama shigekeredo omoiiru ni wa sawarazarikeri
English Translation: On Mount Tsukuba,
foothills, thickets, all grow thick,
and yet, though dense,
for one who would pierce within,
they are no hindrance at all
Meaning: Mount Tsukuba is thick with foothills and wooded slopes, and yet for one whose heart is set on making his way in, they are no hindrance at all.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 1013

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the third poem of the sequence on love sung through mountains. Though the foothills and wooded slopes of Mount Tsukuba grow thick, they cannot stop one determined to make his way in, a love no obstacle can hold back. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Minamoto no Shigeyuki," was a poet of the mid-Heian period and one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals. He served in provincial posts such as Provisional Governor of Sagami, and late in life went down to Michinoku, where he died.

In the first line, Mount Tsukuba stands in Hitachi, in present-day Ibaraki. It has two peaks, the male and the female, and was known of old for the utagaki where men and women gathered.
The second line, "hayama shigeyama," names the foothills and the densely wooded hills that fold around Tsukuba's base.
The third line, "shigekeredo," means "though they grow thick," repeating the sound of "shigeyama" to set the rhythm. The thick woods hint at the watchful eyes and hindrances that stand in love's way.
In the fourth line, "iru" pivots between "omoiiru," to set one's heart deeply, and entering into the mountains.
In the last line, "keri" marks realization: they are no hindrance after all. The next poem, by Yoshinobu, also sings of Mount Tsukuba and asks after a hidden path, so that on the same mountain a love that overcomes all obstacles is set beside a love blocked by another man.
Author: Minamoto no Shigeyuki
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Kyō mo mata kaku ya Ibuki no sashimogusa saraba ware nomi moe ya wataran
Next Poem: Ware naranu hito ni kokoro o Tsukubayama shita ni kayowan michi dani ya naki