Yo no naka no uki tabi goto ni mi o nageba fukaki tani koso asaku nariname - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

世の中の憂きたびごとに身を投げば
深き谷こそ浅くなりなめ

Roma-ji: Yo no naka no uki tabi goto ni mi o nageba fukaki tani koso asaku nariname
English Translation: If every time
the world brought us bitterness
we cast ourselves down,
even the deepest valleys
would surely become shallow
Meaning: If we threw ourselves into the ravine every time the world made us miserable, even the deepest valley would soon be filled up shallow.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Forms 1061

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem exaggerates how many people are driven by the world's sorrows to want to fling themselves away, saying the valleys would fill up. Turning world-weariness into humor through hyperbole gives it its haikai quality.
The author is unknown and is recorded as "Anonymous."

First line, "Yo no naka no," shares its opening words with "Yo no naka wa" in the next poem, linking them in the arrangement.
Second line, "uki tabi goto ni," means each time something bitter happens.
Third line, "mi o nageba," is conditional: if one were to cast oneself down.
Fourth line, "fukaki tani koso," uses "koso," answered by the perfective "me" at the end.
Fifth line, "asaku nariname," combines emphatic "na" with conjectural "me": would surely become shallow. It contrasts with "fukaki," deep, in the fourth line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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