classic waka stream

山里に訪ひ来る人の言種は
この住まゐこそ羨ましけれ
Roma-ji

Yamazato ni toikuru hito no kotogusa wa kono sumai koso urayamashikere

English Translation
To my mountain village
those who come to visit me
all say the same thing:
"How I envy you," they say,
"a dwelling such as this."
Meaning
The words ever on the lips of those who visit my mountain village are always the same: "How I envy you such a dwelling."
Commentary
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1671

Headnote: "When I composed many poems on mountain dwellings."
This is a single poem on dwelling in a mountain village. Those who visit the mountain village always say the same thing: how they envy such a dwelling. According to the headnote, it was composed when he wrote many poems on mountain dwellings.
The author, "Saki no Daisōjō Jien," was a son of Regent Fujiwara no Tadamichi and a younger brother of Kujō Kanezane. He served four times as Tendai Abbot and wrote the historical treatise Gukanshō.

The first line, "yamazato ni," means "to my mountain village." It begins with the same first line as the sequence starting at 1658 in this book.
The second line, "toikuru hito no," means "of those who come to visit." Against the mountain village where visits ceased in the preceding sequence, here the occasional visitor is sung.
The third line, "kotogusa wa," means "their habitual words."
The fourth line, "kono sumai koso," means "this very dwelling," strengthened by the particle "koso."
The last line, "urayamashikere," closes the kakari-musubi of "koso" with the realis form "urayamashikere." There is a light irony toward people who say they envy it yet never come to live in the mountains. It contrasts with the master of the ruined hut in the preceding poem.
Author
Jien
Source
Shin Kokin Wakashu
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