Toshi o hete mukashi o shinobu kokoro nomi uki ni tsukete mo Fukakusa no sato - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

年を経て昔をしのぶ心のみ
うきにつけてもふかくさの里

Roma-ji: Toshi o hete mukashi o shinobu kokoro nomi uki ni tsukete mo Fukakusa no sato
English Translation: Though the years go by,
my heart alone that yearns
for days long ago
in every sorrow grows more deep
here at Fukakusa village
Meaning: Though the years go by, my heart that longs for the past only grows deeper with every sorrow, here in the village of Fukakusa, "deep grass."
Commentary: Book Nine Poems of Lament 601

Headnote: "Composed when I went to the hall at Middle Counselor Akinaga's grave in Fukakusa village"
Composed when the poet visited the hall at the grave of Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Akinaga in the village of Fukakusa. Though years pass, only my heart that longs for the past grows deeper with every sorrow, here at Fukakusa, he says. Far from fading with time, his longing for the dead deepens with each hardship, and he expresses this by hiding "fukaku," "deeply," in the place name Fukakusa.
The author, "Hōgen Chōshin," was a monk of the late Heian period who rose to the rank of hōgen, but little is known of his life.
Fukakusa was known as a place of burial, and a Kokin Wakashū poem by Kamitsuke no Mineo, mourning the dead, calls on the cherries of the Fukakusa fields to bloom in ink-black mourning colors.

First line, "toshi o hete": "as the years pass." Poem 565 of this book opens with the same words.
Second line, "mukashi o shinobu": "longing for the past" when the dead man lived. The fourth line of 574 of this book is also "mukashi o shinobu."
Third line, "kokoro nomi": the limiting "nomi," "only the heart that longs."
Fourth line, "uki ni tsukete mo": "uki" is something painful, "with every sorrow."
Fifth line, "Fukakusa no sato": "fukakusa" is a pivot word joining the place name Fukakusa in Yamashiro with "fukaku," the heart growing deeper. Ending on a noun, it leaves a lingering mood with the name of the place where the dead man lies.
Author: Chōshin
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Yama no ha ni tanabiku kumo ya yukue naku narishi keburi no katami naruran
Next Poem: Tarachime ya tomarite ware o oshimamashi kawaru ni kawaru inochi nariseba