Sumizome no kurama no yama ni iru hito wa tadoru tadoru mo kaeri kinanan - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

墨染の鞍馬の山に入る人は
たどるたどるも帰り来ななん

Roma-ji: Sumizome no kurama no yama ni iru hito wa tadoru tadoru mo kaeri kinanan
English Translation: You who go into
the ink-dark mountain, Kurama,
clad in robes of black,
though you grope along the way,
come back, come back to me
Meaning: You who go into Kurama, mountain as dark as ink-dyed robes, even if you must grope your way step by step, please come back to me.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 832

Headnote: "When Jōzō said he was going into the mountains of Kurama."
The poet says that the one who goes into ink-dark Kurama should come back, even if he must grope his way. To a lover about to shut himself away in the mountains for religious practice, she earnestly pleads that he return, even feeling his way along the dark mountain path.
According to the headnote, the poem was composed when Jōzō said he would go into the mountains of Kurama. Jōzō was a monk, a son of Miyoshi no Kiyoyuki, and his love affair with the poet is told in the Tales of Yamato as well. "Kurabu no yama" in 867 in this book also names Kurabu-yama, said to be an old name for Mount Kurama.
The poet, listed as "Nakaki's daughter," was the daughter of Taira no Nakaki, an official who served as a provincial governor among other posts. The Tales of Yamato tells of her love affair with the monk Jōzō.

The first line, "Sumizome no," means "ink-dyed black," the color of monks' robes, while echoing darkness in the "kura" of "Kurama."
The second line, "kurama no yama ni," means "into Mount Kurama" in Yamashiro, its name evoking "kura," darkness.
The third line, "iru hito wa," means "the one who goes in," referring to Jōzō.
The fourth line, "tadoru tadoru mo," means "even groping step by step," depicting someone feeling his way along a dark mountain path.
The last line, "kaeri kinanan," means "I wish you would come back," with "na" intensifying and "nan" expressing a wish directed at another.
Author: Daughter of Taira no Nakaki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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