Koishisa ni kyō zo tazunuru okuyama no hikage no tsuyu ni sode wa nuretsutsu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

恋しさに今日ぞ尋ぬる奥山の
ひかげの露に袖は濡れつつ

Roma-ji: Koishisa ni kyō zo tazunuru okuyama no hikage no tsuyu ni sode wa nuretsutsu
English Translation: Out of my longing
today at last I seek you;
in the deep mountains
dew in the sunless shadow
keeps drenching my sleeves as I go
Meaning: Driven by longing, today at last I come in search of you, my sleeves soaked all the while by the dew of the shaded mountain depths.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1154

Headnote: "Sent when he sought her out after he had first spoken words of love to a girl attendant at the Gosechi quarters, while he was Head Chamberlain and Middle Captain."
This is the sixth poem of the sequence on the early days of a love affair. Driven by longing, he goes today at last to seek her, but his sleeves are soaked by the dew in the shade of the deep mountains. According to the headnote, when the author was Head Chamberlain and Middle Captain, he spoke words of love to a girl attendant at the Gosechi quarters and later sent this poem when seeking her out.
The author, "Minamoto no Masakiyo Ason," lived in the mid-Heian period. According to the headnote, at the time of this poem he held the post of Head Chamberlain concurrently with Middle Captain of the Palace Guards.
The Gosechi were the dances performed by dancing maidens at court during the Harvest Festival and the Great Harvest Festival, and the Gosechi quarters were the maidens' waiting rooms. The girl attendants were young girls who waited on the dancers. At this festival, sprays of club moss called "hikage" were hung from the headdress as ornaments.

The first line, "koishisa ni," means "out of longing." Where the preceding poem stood on the side of the one waiting for the day of meeting, this one stands on the side of the one who goes seeking. It is a contrast between waiting and seeking.
The second line, "kyō zo tazunuru," means "today at last I seek." Like "kyō matsu" in the preceding poem, it uses the word "today." The emphatic "zo" closes with the attributive "tazunuru," with a pause after the second line.
The third line, "okuyama no," likens the place where she is to the deep mountains, showing a distance not easily crossed.
In the fourth line, "hikage no tsuyu ni," "hikage" is a pivot word meaning both "sunless shade" and the club moss worn at the Gosechi. "Deep mountains," "shade," and "dew" are linked as associated words, showing that this is a poem of longing for the girl of the Gosechi quarters.
The last line, "sode wa nuretsutsu," means "my sleeves keep getting wet." The sleeve soaked by dew is overlaid with love's tears, and the closing "tsutsu" leaves a lingering resonance.
Author: Minamoto no Masakiyo
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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