Otowayama oto ni kikitsutsu Ōsaka no seki no konata ni toshi o furu kana - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

音羽山音に聞きつつ逢坂の
関のこなたに年を経るかな

Roma-ji: Otowayama oto ni kikitsutsu Ōsaka no seki no konata ni toshi o furu kana
English Translation: Like Otowa's name
I hear only sounds of you
and at Osaka's
barrier, still on this side
I let the years go by
Meaning: As the name of Mount Otowa suggests, I only hear rumors of you, and on this side of the Osaka Barrier, whose name speaks of meeting, I pass the years without ever meeting you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 473

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
This poem entrusts a love known only by rumor, never fulfilled by meeting, to the poetic places of Mount Otowa and the Osaka Barrier on the border between Omi and Yamashiro. It pairs a mountain whose name holds "sound" with a barrier whose name holds "meeting," expressing the poet's plight of hearing reports of the beloved but never crossing the barrier. It is a fine example of a poem that skillfully uses the resonance of place-names.
The poet, Ariwara no Motokata, was a grandson of Ariwara no Narihira and the son of Ariwara no Muneyana, Governor of Chikuzen. He was later adopted by Fujiwara no Kunitsune. He is known as the author of the opening poem of the Kokinshu, "Spring has come within the year."

First line, "Like Otowa's name": Mount Otowa lies on the border of Yamashiro and Omi, near the Osaka Barrier. The oto, sound, in the mountain's name leads through sound to "hearing" in the second line.
Second line, "I hear only sounds of you": oto ni kikitsutsu means hearing by rumor, and tsutsu marks continuation. Poem 482 of this book uses the same phrase, sharing the pain of loving the unseen.
Third line, "and at Osaka's": a poetic place in Omi whose name echoes au, to meet. Poems 536 and 537 of this book also begin with "Osaka," bringing the barrier back near the end of the book.
Fourth line, "barrier, still on this side": seki no konata means this side of the barrier, showing the lover unable to cross what separates him from the beloved.
Fifth line, "I let the years go by": toshi o furu kana means "passing the years," with kana as an exclamatory final particle.
Author: Ariwara no Motokata
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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