Okuyama no iwa ni koke mushi kashikokedo omou kokoro o ika ni ka mo semu

奥山の岩に苔生し畏けど
思ふ心をいかにかもせむ

Roma-ji: Okuyama no iwa ni koke mushi kashikokedo omou kokoro o ika ni ka mo semu
English Translation: In the mountain depths
moss grows thick upon the rocks—
awesome though it is,
this heart that longs for you,
what am I to do with it?
Meaning: Awesome as the moss-grown rocks deep in the mountains—and yet this heart that longs for you, what am I to do with it?
Commentary: Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1334

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Mountains"
Though the beloved is as awesome as moss-grown rocks deep in the mountains, the poet laments not knowing what to do with his longing heart. The moss-covered rocks of the inner mountains stand for one sacred and hard to approach, and the poem shows a love that cannot be restrained despite the gulf of rank.
It is the fourth poem on mountains. The third line, "awesome though it is," corresponds to "an awesome peak" in the second line of poem 1331, the two sharing the conceit of love for one to be held in awe. It also echoes "the god of the little isle is awesome" in poem 1310 in this book, a Hitomaro Collection poem on the sea. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "In the mountain depths," refers to mountains far from human dwellings.
The second line, "moss grows thick upon the rocks," completes a preface that, through a sense of the sacred and unapproachable, leads to "awesome" in the third line.
The third line, "awesome though it is," uses the same word as "awesome" in the second line of poem 1331.
The fourth line, "this heart that longs for you," refers to the loving heart.
The final line, "what am I to do with it?" is a kakari-musubi construction in which "ka" is answered by the attributive "mu."
Source: Manyoshu
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