Ashihiki no yama no manimani kakurenamu uki yo no naka wa aru kai mo nashi - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

葦引の山のまにまに隠れなむ
憂き世の中はあるかひもなし

Roma-ji: Ashihiki no yama no manimani kakurenamu uki yo no naka wa aru kai mo nashi
English Translation: Into the foot-weary
mountains, deeper as they lead,
I will hide away;
in this sorrowful world
there is no worth in living.
Meaning: I will hide myself away, going deeper and deeper into the mountains; in this sorrowful world there is no point in living.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems II 953

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Declaring that there is no worth in living in this painful world, the poet resolves to hide deep in the mountains. The word kai means both "worth" and "ravine," binding the resolve to enter the mountains with the worthlessness of the world in a single word.
The longing to flee to the mountains in the preceding poems here becomes a clear resolution: "I will hide away."
The author is recorded as anonymous, and the name has not come down to us.

The first line, "foot-weary," renders ashihiki no, a pillow word for "mountain"; the text writes it with the characters 葦引.
The second line, "deeper as they lead," uses manimani, "following along as things go."
The third line, "I will hide away," uses na (perfective) and mu (volition); the poem breaks after this line.
The fourth line, "in this sorrowful world," names what is being left behind.
The last line, "there is no worth in living," contains the pivot word kai, "worth" and "ravine," which echoes the mountains of the upper verse.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Ikanaramu iwao no uchi ni sumaba ka wa yo no uki koto no kikoe kozaramu
Next Poem: Yo no naka no ukeku ni akinu okuyama no konoha ni fureru yuki ya kenamashi