Okuyama no odoro ga shita mo fumiwakete michi aru yo zo to hito ni shirasen - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

奥山のおどろが下も踏み分けて
道ある世ぞと人に知らせん

Roma-ji: Okuyama no odoro ga shita mo fumiwakete michi aru yo zo to hito ni shirasen
English Translation: Deep in the mountains,
even beneath the thickets
I will tread a way,
that all may know: "This is a world
where the true Way runs straight."
Meaning: Even beneath the tangled thickets of the deep mountains I will tread a way through, and let the people know that this is an age in which the true Way prevails.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1635

Headnote: "On mountains, for the Sumiyoshi Poetry Contest."
This is the first poem of a sequence on the sovereign's reign by way of the mountains. Treading a way even beneath the thickets of the deep mountains, the poet will let the people know that this is an age where the Way runs. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic of mountains at the Sumiyoshi Poetry Contest.
The author, "Daijō Tennō," is Retired Emperor Go-Toba. A son of Emperor Takakura, he ruled as retired emperor after his abdication and ordered the compilation of the Shin Kokinshū.

The first line, "okuyama no," means "in the deep mountains where no one sets foot."
The second line, "odoro ga shita mo," means "even beneath the tangled thickets." With "mo," it shows the resolve to open a way however rough the place.
The third line, "fumiwakete," means "treading a way through, parting the growth."
The fourth line, "michi aru yo zo to," means "that this is an age where there is a way." Upon the "way" of the mountain path is laid the sense of the right way of government.
The last line, "hito ni shirasen," means "I will let the people know." Closing with the volitional "n," it shows the ruler's resolve. Where the preceding sequence sang of entering the mountains to flee the world, here the mountain path is turned into the way of governing the world.
Author: Go-Toba In
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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