Oto ni nomi kikikoshi Miwa no yama yori mo sugi no kazu o ba ware zo mienishi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

音にのみ聞きこし三輪の山よりも
杉の数をば我ぞ見えにし

Roma-ji: Oto ni nomi kikikoshi Miwa no yama yori mo sugi no kazu o ba ware zo mienishi
English Translation: More than Mount Miwa,
of which I've heard only
in rumor and tales,
as many times as cedars there
have I come to show my face
Meaning: More often than the cedars of Mount Miwa, which I have known only by rumor, I have come to show myself at your door—as many times as there are cedars.
Commentary: Book Ten Love Poems II 624

Headnote: "Sent to a woman."
The poet says he has come to her as many times as there are cedars, more than on Mount Miwa, which he has known only by rumor. Drawing on the Miwa tradition of a cedar as the sign by which to find a door, he presses how often he has visited.
According to the headnote, it was sent to a woman. It draws on the Kokin Wakashū poem "waga io wa Miwa no yamamoto koishiku wa toburaikimase sugi tateru kado," using the cedar as the sign by which a lover finds the way.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Oto ni nomi," means "only by rumor."
The second line, "kikikoshi Miwa no," means "of Miwa, of which I have heard," Miwa being a poetic place in Yamato.
The third line, "yama yori mo," means "more than the cedars of that mountain."
The fourth line, "sugi no kazu o ba," means "as many as the cedars," drawing on the cedar standing at the gate on Mount Miwa.
The last line, "ware zo mienishi," means "I have shown myself to you," with "zo" an emphatic particle closing with "shi," the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki," a kakarimusubi pattern.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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