Uchiwabite yobawamu koe ni yamabiko no kotaenu sora wa araji to zo omou - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

うちわびて呼ばはむ声に山びこの
答へぬ空はあらじとぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Uchiwabite yobawamu koe ni yamabiko no kotaenu sora wa araji to zo omou
English Translation: In my distress, when
I call out to you aloud,
there can be no sky,
I think, where the mountain echo
would not answer to my voice
Meaning: When I call out in my distress, I think there can be no sky where the echo would fail to answer my voice.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 969

Headnote: "Sent to someone who would not reply."
The poet thinks there can be no sky where the echo would not answer a voice calling in distress. Though the echo answers under any sky, the beloved sends no reply, and so the poem reproaches one who will not answer.
According to the headnote, it was sent to someone who would not reply. The next poem, 970, is that person's reply, taking up the words echo and sky. Then 971 continues the exchange, so the three poems form a single sequence.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The fourth line of the main text reads "kotaenu sora wa," which does not match "kotaenu yama wa" in the reading line. Since the next poem also answers with sky in "munashiki sora," the main text is followed here.

The first line, "Uchiwabite," means "in distress," "uchi" being a prefix that adjusts the rhythm.
The second line, "yobawamu koe ni," means "to the voice that calls out."
The third line, "yamabiko no," means "of the mountain echo."
The fourth line, "kotaenu sora wa," means "a sky where it does not answer."
The last line, "araji to zo omou," means "I think there is none," with "ji" a negative conjectural auxiliary and "zo" an emphatic binding particle closed by the attributive "omou."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Natsumushi no shiru shiru mayou omoi o ba korinu kanashi to tare ka mizaran
Next Poem: Yamabiko no koe no manimani toiyukaba munashiki sora ni yuki ya kaeran