Furumichi ni ware ya madowamu inishie no nonaka no kusa wa shigeriainikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

古道に我やまどはむいにしへの
野中の草は茂りあひにけり

Roma-ji: Furumichi ni ware ya madowamu inishie no nonaka no kusa wa shigeriainikeri
English Translation: On this ancient road
shall I lose my way, I wonder?
For the grasses grown
in the moorland of the past
have all thickened, intertwined.
Meaning: Shall I lose my way on this old road? The grasses of the moor of long ago have grown thick together.
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 375

Headnote: "Yamato"
Because the grasses of the moor of long ago have grown thick together, the poet wonders whether he will lose his way on the old road. Within the passing of time as the old road is buried in grass, the name of Yamato given in the headnote is hidden in the run of sounds "ware ya madowamu" in the second line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
The author, written as Sukemi, is Fujiwara no Sukemi. A son of Fujiwara no Hirotsune, he was a mid-Heian poet known as Tōroku. He excelled at poems hiding the names of things, and his personal collection is the Tōrokushū.

First line, "furumichi ni," means "on the old road."
Second line, "ware ya madowamu," means "shall I lose my way," with "ya" a questioning particle. "Ya mado" hides the name "Yamato," and the poem pauses here. Against the names of plants and birds in the preceding poems, from here poems hiding place names continue.
Third line, "inishie no," means "of long ago."
Fourth line, "nonaka no kusa wa," means "the grasses in the moor."
Final line, "shigeriainikeri," means "have grown thick together," and has eight syllables, one more than the norm.
Author: Fujiwara no Sukemi
Source: Shui Wakashu
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