山深くさこそ心は通ふとも
住まで哀れを知らんものかは
住まで哀れを知らんものかは
- Roma-ji
-
Yama fukaku sa koso kokoro wa kayou tomo sumade aware o shiran mono ka wa
- English Translation
-
Deep into the hills
however far the heart may
wander on its way,
without dwelling there, the depth
of feeling—how could one know it?
- Meaning
- However deep into the mountains the heart may travel, how could one know the true feeling of the place without living there?
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1632
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the first poem of a sequence on the heart of living in the mountains. However deep into the mountains the heart may travel, one cannot know the feeling of mountain life without actually living there. The headnote gives the topic as unknown and records nothing of the circumstances.
The author, "Saigyō Hōshi," was named Satō Norikiyo in lay life. A guard in the service of Retired Emperor Toba, he took holy orders at the age of twenty-three.
The first line, "yama fukaku," means "deep into the mountains."
In the second line, "sa koso kokoro wa," "sa koso" means "however much," and together with "tomo" below it expresses a strong concession.
The third line, "kayou tomo," means "even though it may go there." "Tomo" expresses an adversative supposition.
The fourth line, "sumade aware o," means "without living there, the deep feeling." "De" is a negative conjunctive particle.
The last line, "shiran mono ka wa," means "could one know it? No." "Mono ka wa" expresses a rhetorical question. Following the exchange about a mountain hut visited without meeting its master, it teaches that the heart of mountain life is known only by living there.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Arehatete kaze mo sawaranu koke no io ni ware wa naku tomo tsuyu wa moriken
- Next Poem
-
Yamakage ni sumanu kokoro wa ika nare ya oshimarete iru tsuki mo aru yo ni