Kasugayama kumoi kakurete tōkeredo ie wa omowazu kimi o koso omoe - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

春日山雲居隠れて遠けれど
家は思はず君をこそ思へ

Roma-ji: Kasugayama kumoi kakurete tōkeredo ie wa omowazu kimi o koso omoe
English Translation: Kasuga Mountain
hides beyond the far-off clouds,
distant though it lies,
it's not of home I'm thinking,
but of you alone, my love.
Meaning: Mount Kasuga is hidden far away beyond the clouds, yet it is not my home I think of, but only you.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1244

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that though Mount Kasuga lies far off, hidden in the clouds, he thinks not of home but only of his beloved. Looking back on the journey toward the distant Mount Kasuga of home, he sings of a single-minded love in which it is not home but the beloved that fills his heart. Following the preceding poem, 1243, it sings of a heart devoted to one person.
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. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "Kasugayama," is Mount Kasuga in Yamato, east of the capital at Nara.
Second line, "kumoi kakurete," means "hidden beyond the clouds," speaking of its great distance.
Third line, "tōkeredo," means "though it is far," with "do" a concessive particle.
Fourth line, "ie wa omowazu," means "I do not think of home," pairing with "kimi," you, in the final line.
Final line, "kimi o koso omoe," means "it is you I think of," with the binding particle "koso" resolved by the perfective "omoe." It shares the words "kimi o omou" with the final line of the preceding poem, 1243, "kimi o omoeba."
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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