Kaeruyama nani zo wa arite aru kai wa kite mo tomaranu na ni koso arikere - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

かへる山何ぞはありてあるかひは
来てもとまらぬ名にこそありけれ

Roma-ji: Kaeruyama nani zo wa arite aru kai wa kite mo tomaranu na ni koso arikere
English Translation: Mount Kaeru—why
does it stand there? The worth
of its being there
lies only in a name that means
you come, but do not stay.
Meaning: Why does Mount Kaeru, the "Mountain of Return," stand there at all? Its only worth, I see now, lies in a name that means you come back, yet do not stay.
Commentary: Book Eight Parting Poems 382

Headnote: "Composed when an acquaintance who had gone down to the province of Koshi came up to the capital after some years and then returned again"
An acquaintance who had gone down to Koshi came up to the capital after some years, only to return to Koshi again, and on that occasion the poet composed this poem. He had thought Kaeru Mountain a name that held the hope of returning to the capital, but now realizes it is a name for one who comes yet does not stay and goes back again; turning the place name's meaning against itself, he laments the parting.
The author, "Ōshikōchi no Mitsune," was Ōshikōchi no Mitsune, one of the compilers of the Kokinshū, ranked alongside Ki no Tsurayuki.

The first line, "Mount Kaeru," is a pivot word joining Kaeruyama in Echizen with kaeru, "to return." Poem 370 in this book also opens with "Kaeru Mountain"; where that poem entrusts the hope of return to the name, this one rereads the same name as "going back," forming a reversed composition.
The second line, "why does it stand there?" adds the particle wa to the interrogative nani zo, asking what it exists for.
The third line, "the worth of its being there," is a pivot word in which kai joins "worth" with kai, "ravine," a word associated with mountains.
The fourth line, "you come, but do not stay," means coming to the capital without remaining, giving the name kaeru a different sense.
The last line, "lies only in a name," binds the particle koso with the perfective form kere; the auxiliary keri of realization shows surprise at grasping the name's true meaning. Poem 390 in this book shares the same last line and corresponds to this one in lamenting a name at odds with reality.
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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