Tachiidete tsumagi orikoshi kataoka no fukaki yamaji to narinikeru kana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

立ち出でて爪木折りこし片岡の
深き山路となりにけるかな

Roma-ji: Tachiidete tsumagi orikoshi kataoka no fukaki yamaji to narinikeru kana
English Translation: Stepping out I'd go
to gather brushwood for fuel
on the little hill—
now it has become a path
deep among the mountains.
Meaning: The little hill where I used to step out to gather brushwood has become, with the years, a path deep in the mountains.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1634

Headnote: "Composed on the spirit of 'Spending the Years at a Mountain Dwelling.'"
This is the third poem of the sequence on the heart of living in the mountains. The little hill where he used to step out of the hut to gather brushwood has, over the years, become a path deep in the mountains. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Spending the Years at a Mountain Dwelling."
The author, "Jakuren Hōshi," was named Fujiwara no Sadanaga in lay life. A nephew of Fujiwara no Shunzei, he became his adopted son. He was chosen as a compiler of the Shin Kokinshū but died before its completion.

The first line, "tachiidete," means "stepping out" of the hut.
The second line, "tsumagi orikoshi," means "where I came breaking off brushwood." "Koshi," "ku" with the past "shi," shows repeated trips there.
The third line, "kataoka no," means "of the little hill with one steep side," a shallow spot near the hut.
The fourth line, "fukaki yamaji to," means "into a deep mountain path." Contrasted with the little hill of the third line, it shows the passing of years.
The last line, "narinikeru kana," means "it has become so." In the trees growing thick until the shallow hill became a deep mountain path, the poet reads the long years spent at the mountain dwelling. Where the two preceding poems spoke of the heart of mountain life, this one shows the weight of years lived there through a scene.
Author: Jakuren
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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