Fuji no ne no keburi mo nao zo tachinoboru ue naki mono wa omoi narikeri - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

富士の嶺の煙もなほぞ立ちのぼる
上なきものはおもひなりけり

Roma-ji: Fuji no ne no keburi mo nao zo tachinoboru ue naki mono wa omoi narikeri
English Translation: From Fuji's high peak
the smoke still rises and climbs,
climbing ever higher;
yet what has nothing above it
is the fire of my love.
Meaning: The smoke of Mount Fuji still rises high into the sky; yet what has nothing higher above it, what surpasses all, is the fire of my love.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 1132

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "At the hundred-poem contest held at the house of the Regent and Grand Chancellor."
This is the second of two poems on burning love linked to mountains. The smoke of Mount Fuji rises high, but higher still, beyond compare, is the fire of love. The headnote continues from the preceding poem; it was composed for the hundred-poem contest at the house of the Regent and Grand Chancellor, Fujiwara no Yoshitsune.
The author, "Ietaka Ason," is Fujiwara no Ietaka. The son of Provisional Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Mitsutaka, he studied poetry with Fujiwara no Shunzei and became one of the compilers of the Shin Kokinshū.
Mount Fuji is a poetic place-name of Suruga Province; it sent up smoke in those days and was sung as a figure for the smoke of love's fire.

The first line, "fuji no ne no," means "of the peak of Fuji." After the peak of Ibuki in the preceding poem, love's fire is again linked to a mountain.
The second line, "keburi mo nao zo," means "the smoke too, still," the particle "zo" forming a bound construction with the attributive "tachinoboru" of the third line.
The third line, "tachinoboru," means "rises high," and the poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "ue naki mono wa," means "what has nothing above it," holding both "higher than Fuji's smoke" and "beyond compare." Setting the high-climbing smoke as a standard, it shows love surpassing even that.
In the last line, "omoi narikeri," "omoi" holds both "omoi," longing, and "hi," fire, bound by association to the smoke. It shares its last line with the preceding poem; against the moxa-grass fire of Ibuki, this is a fire that surpasses the smoke of Fuji, and so the two poems of burning love are joined.
Author: Fujiwara no Ietaka
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Au koto wa itsu to ibuki no mine ni ouru sashimo taesenu omoi narikeri
Next Poem: Nakina nomi tatsuta no yama ni tatsu kumo no yukue mo shiranu nagame o zo suru