Yo to tomo ni mine e fumoto e orinobori yuku kumo no mi wa ware ni zo arikeru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

世とともに峰へ麓へおりのぼり
行く雲の身は我にぞありける

Roma-ji: Yo to tomo ni mine e fumoto e orinobori yuku kumo no mi wa ware ni zo arikeru
English Translation: Ever and always
to the peaks, to the foothills,
coming down, going up—
the drifting cloud's lot, I find,
is none other than my own
Meaning: Forever going down and coming up, now to the peaks, now to the foothills—the lot of the drifting cloud, I find, is none other than my own.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1079

Headnote: "Sent to Kanesuke when he had often gone off to serve as a provincial official and had left the courtiers' hall."
The poet says that the drifting cloud, forever going down and up between the peaks and the foothills, turns out to be none other than himself. He laments his unsettled life, moving between provincial posts and the courtiers' hall, by likening it to a cloud rising and falling on a mountain.
According to the headnote, he sent it to Fujiwara no Kanesuke when he had often gone to the provinces as an official and had left the roll of the courtiers' hall. The cloud's going down and up overlays his own descending from and returning to the hall.
The poet, Taira no Nakaki, was a son of Taira no Suenaga and served in a succession of provincial posts such as governor of Ōmi. His daughter also left a name as a poet, known as the Daughter of Taira no Nakaki.

The first line, "Yo to tomo ni," means "always, forever."
The second line, "mine e fumoto e," means "to the peaks, to the foothills," setting side by side the high and low places the cloud travels, hinting at the courtiers' hall and the provinces.
The third line, "orinobori," means "going down and coming up," overlaying the cloud's motion with his leaving and returning to the courtiers' hall.
The fourth line, "yuku kumo no mi wa," means "the lot of the drifting cloud," likening his unsettled state to a cloud.
The last line, "ware ni zo arikeru," means "was none other than me," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle closed by the attributive "keru," which expresses the wonder of realization.
Author: Taira no Nakaki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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