Kuraiyama ato o tazunete noboredomo ko o omou michi ni nao mayoinuru - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

位山跡を尋ねてのぼれども
子を思ふ道になほ迷ひぬる

Roma-ji: Kuraiyama ato o tazunete noboredomo ko o omou michi ni nao mayoinuru
English Translation: Mount Kurai I have
climbed, following in the tracks
of those who went before,
and yet upon the path of love
for my children I still stray.
Meaning: I have climbed Rank Mountain, following the tracks of those before me, yet on the path of a parent's love for his children I still lose my way.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1814

Headnote: "When I presented a hundred-poem sequence."
This is the fourth of the poems on the bonds between those close to one another. He has risen in rank as if climbing Rank Mountain in his forebears' tracks, but on the path of love for his children he still loses his way. Having reached high office, he tells of a father still bewildered by worry over his children's future. According to the headnote, it was composed when he presented a hundred-poem sequence.
The author, "Tsuchimikado Palace Minister," is Minamoto no Michichika. A son of Minamoto no Masamichi, he rose to Palace Minister and wielded great power as a close retainer of Retired Emperor Go-Toba. He was the father of Minamoto no Michitomo.
Mount Kurai is a mountain in Hida Province, a poetic place sung of with a pun on "kurai," rank. The lower verse draws on a poem by Fujiwara no Kanesuke in the Gosen Wakashū: "Hito no oya no / kokoro wa yami ni / aranedomo / ko o omou michi ni / madoinuru kana" ("A parent's heart is not darkness, yet on the path of love for a child one loses one's way").

The first line, "Kuraiyama," is a poetic place in Hida Province. Its name evokes court rank, likening advancement to climbing a mountain.
The second line, "ato o tazunete," means "following the tracks of my forebears," having reached a rank as high as theirs.
The third line, "noboredomo," means "though I have climbed," overlaying climbing the mountain with rising in rank.
The fourth line, "ko o omou michi ni," uses a phrase from Fujiwara no Kanesuke's poem as it stands, likening a parent's love for a child to a path. From the one who reared a child in the preceding poem, it moves to a parent's love for his children.
The last line, "nao mayoinuru," means "still I lose my way." Breaking off on the attributive "nuru" with a sigh, it contrasts one who did not stray on the road of rank but strays on the road of parental love, showing its depth.
Author: Minamoto no Michichika
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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