Yo no naka wa ikaga wa semashi shigeyama no aoba no sugi no shirushi dani nashi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

世の中はいかがはせまし茂山の
青葉の杉のしるしだになし

Roma-ji: Yo no naka wa ikaga wa semashi shigeyama no aoba no sugi no shirushi dani nashi
English Translation: This bond of ours,
what am I to make of it?
On the leafy hill,
of the cedars, green-leaved, not one
can serve to show the way.
Meaning: What am I to do with this bond of ours? On a hill thick with green-leaved cedars, there is not even one to serve as a sign.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1236

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet asks what is to be done with this bond, for on a hill thick with green cedars there is not even a sign to go by. As in the Kokinshū poem bidding a lover come to the gate where a cedar stands at the foot of Mount Miwa, the cedar served as a sign marking a lover's house, but when the whole hill is cedars the sign is useless, and so it sings of the loneliness of a love with no clue to the other's heart. It shares with 1266 in this book the device of cedars that fail to serve as a sign.

First line, "yo no naka wa," means "the bond between us."
Second line, "ikaga wa semashi," means "what should I do," with "mashi" expressing hesitation. The poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "shigeyama no," means "of the thickly wooded hill."
Fourth line, "aoba no sugi no," means "of the green-leaved cedars," the cedar being taken as the sign of a lover's house. It shares the word "sugi" with the fourth and final lines of 1266 in this book, "sugi ni zo arikeru."
Final line, "shirushi dani nashi," means "not even a sign," with "dani" a particle that names a lesser thing to imply the greater, speaking of having nothing to rely on.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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