classic waka stream

岩畳畏き山と知りつつも
我れは恋ふるか並にあらなくに
Roma-ji

Iwatatami kashikoki yama to shiritsutsu mo are wa kouru ka nami ni aranaku ni

English Translation
Where the rocks are piled,
I know it for an awesome peak,
knowing it full well—
yet still I love it so,
though it is no common hill
Meaning
I know well it is an awesome mountain, rocks piled on rocks—and still I love it so, though it is no ordinary mountain.
Commentary
Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1331

Headnote: "On Mountains"
The poet knows the mountain of piled rocks is awesome, yet cannot help loving it. The mountain stands for a person of high rank who is hard to approach, and the poem shows a heart that cannot hold back its longing though it knows the beloved is no ordinary match.
It is the first poem under the heading "On Mountains," which covers the five poems up to 1335. The third line, "awesome," corresponds to "awesome though it is" in the third line of poem 1334, the two sharing the conceit of love for one to be held in awe. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "Where the rocks are piled," shows the steepness of the mountain.
The second line, "I know it for an awesome peak," uses the mountain as a figure for a person of high rank.
The third line, "knowing it full well," means "even though I know."
In the fourth line, "yet still I love it so," "ka" is exclamatory, and the poem pauses here.
The final line, "though it is no common hill," gives by inversion the reason for his hesitation.
Source
Manyoshu
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