Obotsukana Kurama no yama no michi shirade kasumi no uchi ni madou kyō kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

おぼつかなくらまの山の道知らで
霞の中にまどふ今日かな

Roma-ji: Obotsukana Kurama no yama no michi shirade kasumi no uchi ni madou kyō kana
English Translation: How uneasy I feel!
Not knowing the path that climbs
dark Kurama's slopes,
lost amid the spring haze
I go wandering today.
Meaning: How uneasy I am! Not knowing the path up Mount Kurama, whose very name speaks of darkness, I wander lost in the haze today.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Spring Poems 1016

Headnote: "Composed when he lost his way on a pilgrimage to Kurama"
The poet says how uneasy it is, not knowing the path up Mount Kurama, whose name speaks of darkness, and wandering lost in the haze today. The headnote shows it was composed when he took the wrong road on a pilgrimage to Kurama Temple. Pivoting the place name Kurama on "kura," dark, it sings of the forlornness of being shut in by haze with no way ahead to be seen.
The author, Priest Anpō, was a monk who was a great-grandson of Minamoto no Tōru. Taking holy orders, he lived at the Kawara-no-in and associated with many poets. He is one of the Thirty-Six Later Immortal Poets.

First line, "obotsukana," means "how uneasy," an exclamation using the stem of the adjective "obotsukanashi." The poem breaks after this first line.
Second line, "Kurama no yama no," is a pivot word: "Kurama" is the place name and also "kura," dark.
Third line, "michi shirade," means "not knowing the path," with "de" a negative conjunctive particle.
Fourth line, "kasumi no uchi ni," means "within the haze," continuing the haze poems from 1014 in this book.
Final line, "madou kyō kana," means "today I wander lost," with "kana" exclamatory.
Author: Priest Anpō
Source: Shui Wakashu
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