Kimi ga yuku Koshi no Shirayama shiranedomo yuki no manimani ato wa tazunemu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君が行く越の白山知らねども
雪のまにまに跡はたづねむ

Roma-ji: Kimi ga yuku Koshi no Shirayama shiranedomo yuki no manimani ato wa tazunemu
English Translation: Shirayama in Koshi,
where you are going,
I do not know, yet
following the falling snow,
I will seek out your tracks.
Meaning: I do not know Shirayama in Koshi, where you are going, and yet I will follow wherever the snow leads and seek out your footprints.
Commentary: Book Eight Parting Poems 391

Headnote: "Composed at the farewell banquet for Ōe no Chifuru, who was leaving for Koshi"
This poem was composed at the farewell banquet for Ōe no Chifuru, who was going down to Koshi. Though the poet does not know Shirayama at the traveler's destination, he will follow the tracks left in the snow, expressing a heart that yearns after the other wherever he may go. Imagining the vivid scene of footprints in snow, he shows that his heart will follow even after the parting.
The author, "Fujiwara no Kanesuke Ason," was a son of Fujiwara no Toshimoto who rose to Middle Counselor; because his residence stood on the embankment of the Kamo River, he was called the Embankment Middle Counselor. He was the great-grandfather of Murasaki Shikibu.

The first line, "where you are going," points to the traveler's road and leads to the destination in the second line.
The second line, "Shirayama in Koshi," is a famous place in the province of Koshi, the same mountain sung of in poem 383 in this book. Where that poem laments being unable to go to see the snow, this one shows the resolve to follow the snow in search of the traveler, forming a contrast.
The third line, "I do not know," repeats the sound shira of Shirayama to lead into shira, "know," continuing with the concessive domo.
The fourth line, "following the falling snow," uses manimani, "as it leads," meaning as the snow falls and following the snow.
The last line, "I will seek out your tracks," uses the volitional mu to express the resolve to follow and visit. Ato refers both to footprints in the snow and to the traveler's whereabouts.
Author: Fujiwara no Kanesuke
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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