Noborubeki michi ni zo madou Kuraiyama kore yori oku no shirube nakereba - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

登るべき道にぞ惑ふ位山
これより奥のしるべなければ

Roma-ji: Noborubeki michi ni zo madou Kuraiyama kore yori oku no shirube nakereba
English Translation: The road I should climb,
I have lost my way upon it,
the Mountain of Rank;
for there is no guide to lead
me deeper in from here
Meaning: On the Mountain of Rank I have lost the road I ought to climb, for there is no guide to lead me farther in from here.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1115

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
On the Mountain of Rank I have lost the road I should climb, for there is no guide farther in from here, he says. Laying promotion in official or clerical rank over the name of the Mountain of Rank, he laments that he cannot see a way to climb higher and has no one to guide him. It can also be read as the bewilderment of one who already holds the clerical rank of hōin, uncertain of any hope beyond it.
The author, "Hōin Rin'en," was a monk of the late Heian period who held the rank of hōin. His biography is not known in detail.
It shares Kuraiyama with 1076 of this book, both lamenting promotion that does not come. It also shares "shirube," guide, with "shirube narubeki" in the fifth line of 1078 of this book.

First line, "noborubeki": "that I should climb," overlapped with rising in rank.
Second line, "michi ni zo madou": "zo" is an emphatic binding particle closing with the attributive "madou," "I have lost my way."
Third line, "Kuraiyama": a famous place in Hida Province, sung as a figure for promotion in rank; the poem pauses on this noun. It is the same place as "kuraiyama" in the first line of 1076 of this book.
Fourth line, "kore yori oku no": "farther in from here."
Fifth line, "shirube nakereba": "shirube" means a guide, "since there is no guide," giving the reason and returning through inversion to the second line. It shares "shirube" with "shirube narubeki" in the fifth line of 1078 of this book.
Author: Rin'en
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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