Yoshinoyama koen koto koso katakarame koramu nageki no kazu wa shirinan - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

吉野山越えん事こそかたからめ
こらむなげきの数は知りなん

Roma-ji: Yoshinoyama koen koto koso katakarame koramu nageki no kazu wa shirinan
English Translation: Mount Yoshino
may be hard indeed to cross,
and yet the count
of the grief-logs you will fell—
that much, surely, I can know
Meaning: Crossing Mount Yoshino may indeed be hard, yet I can surely know how many logs of grief you will cut there.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1168

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet says that crossing Mount Yoshino may be hard, but the number of grief-logs to be cut can surely be known. Taking up the woodcutter figure of the preceding poem, the reply says that the gap of rank cannot be crossed, yet the depth of the other's grief is well understood.
It is the reply to the preceding poem.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Yoshinoyama," takes up the third line of the preceding poem.
The second line, "koen koto koso," means "crossing it indeed," figuring the crossing of the gap of rank. "Koso" is an emphatic binding particle closed by the perfective form "me" in the third line.
The third line, "katakarame," means "may be hard, but," with "me" the perfective form of the conjectural "mu," the koso-perfective pattern leading on adversatively.
The fourth line, "koramu nageki no," means "of the logs you will fell," taking up "nageki" and "kori" from the preceding poem with their double meanings.
The last line, "kazu wa shirinan," means "their number I can surely know," with "nan" strong conjecture.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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