Kōru koto nagusamekanete idete yukeba yama o kawa o mo shirazu ki ni keri

恋ふること慰めかねて出でて行けば
山を川をも知らず来にけり

Roma-ji: Kōru koto nagusamekanete idete yukeba yama o kawa o mo shirazu ki ni keri
English Translation: Unable to ease
the ache of this love of mine,
I went out and walked,
and over hills, over streams,
unknowing, I came this far
Meaning: Unable to soothe my longing, I set out walking, and before I knew it I had come over hills and rivers without noticing them.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2414

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Unable to relieve his longing, the speaker leaves home and walks on until he realizes he has crossed hills and rivers without noticing them. His self-forgetfulness in love is shown concretely by his failure to remember the hills and rivers he passed, and the intensity of his feeling comes through vividly.
This poem stands last among the Hitomaro Collection's poems "Expressing One's Feelings Directly," and with the next poem, 2415, the group "Expressing Feelings through Things" begins. With its hills and rivers, this poem stands like a bridge to the next category, which speaks through things in the landscape.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "kōru koto": "my longing."
Second line, "nagusamekanete": "unable to console." "Kanu," attached to the continuative form of a verb, means to be unable to do something fully.
Third line, "idete yukeba": "when I went out." The line is hypermetric with six syllables, and "ba" expresses a settled condition.
Fourth line, "yama o kawa o mo": "hills and rivers too." Repeating "o" and adding "mo," it gathers together the hills and rivers he crossed.
Fifth line, "shirazu ki ni keri": "unknowing, I have come." The perfective "nu" and "keri," marking sudden realization, express his surprise on coming back to himself.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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