Yo no ukime mienu yamaji e iramu ni wa omou hito koso hodashi narikere - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

世の憂きめ見えぬ山路へ入らむには
思ふ人こそほだしなりけれ

Roma-ji: Yo no ukime mienu yamaji e iramu ni wa omou hito koso hodashi narikere
English Translation: To take the mountain path
where one sees no bitter sights
of the world of men,
it is the one I love
who is the fetter holding me.
Meaning: If I would enter the mountain path where I need not see the world's bitterness, it is the one I love who is the fetter holding me back.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems II 955

Headnote: "A poem with no syllable repeated"
As the headnote "a poem with no syllable repeated" indicates, this poem was composed under the technical constraint of never using the same kana twice. It says that even if one would flee the world's sorrows into the mountains, the presence of a loved one binds one back.
Ono no Komachi's poem 939 in this book also ends with "it is the fetter," and the two correspond in naming what holds back a heart that would leave the world. Komachi called the feeling of aware a fetter; this poem calls the beloved one.
The author, "Mononobe no Yoshina" as written in kana, is Mononobe no Yoshina, said to be a man of the early Heian period, though his career is unknown.

The first line, "bitter sights of the world," means the painful experiences of the world.
The second line, "the mountain path where one sees no," refers to a path away from such sights.
The third line, "to take," means "when one would enter."
The fourth line, "it is the one I love," uses koso, which looks ahead to the perfective form kere at the end.
The last line, "who is the fetter," is the same closing line as 939 in this book.
Author: Mononobe no Yoshina
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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