Chihayaburu kami mo omoi no areba koso toshi hete Fuji no yama mo moyurame - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ちはやぶる神もおもひのあればこそ
年経て富士の山も燃ゆらめ

Roma-ji: Chihayaburu kami mo omoi no areba koso toshi hete Fuji no yama mo moyurame
English Translation: Since even the gods,
mighty and swift, feel the flame
of a longing heart,
through the years Mount Fuji
must go on smoldering so.
Meaning: It is because even the gods burn with the fire of love that Mount Fuji, through all the years, goes on burning.
Commentary: Book Ten Kagura Songs 597

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that Mount Fuji keeps burning through the years because even the gods burn with the fire of love. It likens the smoke of Mount Fuji to the flame of love in the heart of the mountain's god. By seeing that not only people but gods too feel longing, it expresses the strength of an unending love. Together with the preceding poem, 596, it is a poem by Hitomaro beginning with "chihayaburu."
The author, written as "Hitomaro," is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. A court poet who served in the reigns of Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu, he is revered as the Saint of Poetry.

First line, "chihayaburu," is a pillow word introducing "kami," the same as the first line of the preceding poem, 596.
Second line, "kami mo omoi no," means "the gods too, of longing," with "hi" in "omoi" a pivot on "fire." Where the preceding poem, 596, spoke of gods who preserve life, this one sings of a god in love.
Third line, "areba koso," means "precisely because there is," with the binding particle "koso" resolved by the perfective form "rame" in the final line.
Fourth line, "toshi hete Fuji no," means "through the years, Fuji's."
Final line, "yama mo moyurame," means "the mountain too must burn," with "rame" the perfective form of the conjectural auxiliary "ramu." It forms an associated word with the "fire" in the second line.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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