Ashihiki no yamabe ni oreba shirakumo no ika ni seyo to ka haruru toki naki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あしひきの山辺にをれば白雲の
いかにせよとかはるる時なき

Roma-ji: Ashihiki no yamabe ni oreba shirakumo no ika ni seyo to ka haruru toki naki
English Translation: As I dwell among
the foothills of the mountains,
the white clouds above—
what would they have me do?
for they never clear away.
Meaning: Living by the mountains, I wonder what the white clouds would have me do, for there is never a time they clear.
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 380

Headnote: "Yodokawa (Yodo River)"
The poet, living by the mountains, asks what the white clouds would have him do, for they never clear. Overlaying the mountain clouds that never lift with a heart that never brightens, the poem hides the name of the Yodo River given in the headnote in the run of sounds "yo to ka wa" from the fourth to the final line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
The author, written as Tsurayuki, is Ki no Tsurayuki. The leading compiler of the Kokinshū, he wrote its Kana Preface and the Tosa Diary, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "ashihiki no," is a pillow word for mountains.
Second line, "yamabe ni oreba," means "as I dwell by the mountains," the perfective form with "ba."
Third line, "shirakumo no," means "the white clouds."
Fourth line, "ika ni seyo to ka," means "what would they have me do," with "ka" a questioning particle. Like "miyo to ka wa" in the preceding poem, "yo to ka" together with "ha" at the start of the final line hides the name "Yodogawa."
Final line, "haruru toki naki," means "there is no time they clear," with "ka" resolved by the attributive "naki."
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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