Shiori sede nao yama fukaku wakeiran uki koto kikanu tokoro ari ya to - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

枝折せでなほ山深く分け入らん
憂きこと聞かぬ所ありやと

Roma-ji: Shiori sede nao yama fukaku wakeiran uki koto kikanu tokoro ari ya to
English Translation: Leaving no twig marks,
deeper still into the hills
I will make my way—
if there is a place somewhere
where no sorrows reach the ear.
Meaning: Without breaking twigs to mark the path, I will push still deeper into the mountains, seeking a place where no word of sorrow reaches me.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1643

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the second poem of the sequence on the depths of mountain villages. Without marking the way back, the poet will push still deeper into the mountains, seeking a place where no sorrow can be heard. The headnote gives the topic as unknown and records nothing of the circumstances.
The author, continuing from the preceding poem, is Saigyō. Named Satō Norikiyo in lay life, he was a guard in the service of Retired Emperor Toba and took holy orders at the age of twenty-three.

The first line, "shiori sede," means "without breaking twigs to mark the way." By leaving no marks for the return, it shows a resolve never to go back.
The second line, "nao yama fukaku," means "still deeper into the mountains." It heads further in from the mountain village of the preceding poem, and echoes "yama fukaku," the first line of 1632 in this book.
The third line, "wakeiran," means "I will push my way in." The poem breaks here after the third line with the volitional "n."
The fourth line, "uki koto kikanu," means "where no sorrows are heard."
The last line, "tokoro ari ya to," means "wondering if there is such a place." Through inversion, the purpose of pushing on is shown at the close. Taking up the preceding sequence, in which even the mountains of renunciation held sorrow, it sings of a heart seeking still further in.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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