Ochikochi no hitome mare naru yamazato ni iei sen to wa omoiki ya kimi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

をちこちの人目まれなる山里に
家居せんとは思ひきや君

Roma-ji: Ochikochi no hitome mare naru yamazato ni iei sen to wa omoiki ya kimi
English Translation: Did you ever think,
in a mountain village where
from near or far
so seldom anyone appears,
that you would make your home
Meaning: Did you ever imagine that you would make your home in a mountain village where, from near or far, scarcely anyone ever comes?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1172

Headnote: "On hearing that a woman who once served with me in the same household had followed a man to the provinces and settled there, and since she was a person of fine feeling, I sent this."
The poet asks whether the friend ever imagined making a home in a mountain village where people seldom come. Hearing that a refined woman who once served in the same household had followed her husband to a provincial mountain village, the poet sympathizes with how her circumstances have changed.
According to the headnote, a woman who had served in the same household long ago had gone off with a man to the provinces and settled there, and since she was a person of fine feeling, the poet sent this. Her reply follows in the next poem, and from this poem through 1175, poems about people living in mountain villages continue.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Ochikochi no," means "from here and there."
The second line, "hitome mare naru," means "where people's visits are rare."
The third line, "yamazato ni," means "in a mountain village," leading on to the "mountain" in the last line of the next poem and the "mountain village" of the headnotes of 1174 and 1175 in this book.
The fourth line, "iei sen to wa," means "that you would make your home."
The last line, "omoiki ya kimi," means "did you ever think, you," with "ki" the past and "ya" rhetorical, implying she could never have imagined it, and closing with an address.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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