Morokoshi no Yoshino no yama ni komoru tomo okuremu to omou ware naranaku ni - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

もろこしの吉野の山にこもるとも
遅れむと思ふ我ならなくに

Roma-ji: Morokoshi no Yoshino no yama ni komoru tomo okuremu to omou ware naranaku ni
English Translation: Even if you hid
in the Yoshino mountains
of far-off Cathay,
I am not the kind to think
of staying behind without you
Meaning: Even if you were to shut yourself away in the Yoshino mountains of China, I am not one to think of being left behind.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Forms 1049

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet vows to follow wherever the beloved may hide, exaggerating by naming an impossible place, "the Yoshino mountains of China." The fanciful joining of distant China with nearby Yoshino gives the poem its haikai quality.
The author, "Hidari no Ōimōchigimi," is the Minister of the Left, Fujiwara no Tokihira. The son of Fujiwara no Mototsune, he became Minister of the Left under Emperor Daigo and held that office when the Kokinshū was compiled.

First line, "Morokoshi no," is an old name for China, standing for a distant foreign land.
Second line, "Yoshino no yama ni," names Mount Yoshino in Yamato, a place of retreat. With the first line it creates the fictitious "Yoshino of China."
Third line, "komoru tomo," is a concessive conditional: even if you retreat there.
Fourth line, "okuremu to omou," means to think of being left behind.
Fifth line, "ware naranaku ni," uses "naku ni," an exclamatory negative: I am not such a one.
Author: Fujiwara no Tokihira
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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