Ukiyo o ba sutete irinishi yama naredo kimi ga tou ni ya iden to suran - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

憂き世をば捨てて入りにし山なれど
君が問ふにや出でんとすらん

Roma-ji: Ukiyo o ba sutete irinishi yama naredo kimi ga tou ni ya iden to suran
English Translation: Though these are the hills
that I entered having cast
the sorrowful world away,
since you have sent to ask,
shall I now be leaving them?
Meaning: Though these are mountains I entered after casting off the sorrowful world, because you have written to me, will I now set out to leave them?
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1133

Headnote: "Reply"
This is Kakuchū's reply to the preceding poem, 1132. Though these are the hills I entered after casting off the sorrowful world, since you have sent to ask, shall I now leave them, he says. Having entered the mountains for practice after abandoning the world, he should by rights never come out. Yet since his friend has worried so and written to him, he answers with gratitude that, in response to that kindness, he will leave the mountains and return to the capital.
The author, "Former Archbishop Kakuchū," was a son of the regent Fujiwara no Tadamichi. A monk of Onjōji, he served as head of the Tendai school and rose to archbishop.
As the reply to the preceding poem, 1132, it answers "until you return to the capital" with "shall I now be leaving," and shares "kimi ga."

First line, "ukiyo o ba": "this sorrowful world."
Second line, "sutete irinishi": "ni" is the continuative of the perfective "nu" and "shi" the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki," "which I entered having cast it off."
Third line, "yama naredo": "though they are such mountains," a concessive leading on.
Fourth line, "kimi ga tou ni ya": "tou" means to send word and inquire, and "ya" is an interrogative binding particle closing with "ran" in the fifth line. It shares "kimi ga" with "kimi ga miyako ni" in the fourth line of the preceding poem, 1132.
Fifth line, "iden to suran": "shall I set out to leave them?" answering "kaerikuru made" in the fifth line of the preceding poem.
Author: Kakuchū
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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