Yūgiri no hedate naku koso omōyure kakurete kimi ga awanu narikeri

夕霧の隔てなくこそ思ほゆれ
隠れて君が逢はぬなりけり

Roma-ji: Yūgiri no hedate naku koso omōyure kakurete kimi ga awanu narikeri
English Translation: Like the evening mist,
there seems to be nothing that
keeps the two of us apart,
but it is that you are hiding,
and will not come to meet me.
Meaning: There seems to be no evening mist between us at all, yet it turns out that you are hiding yourself and will not meet me.
Commentary: Love Poems 604

Headnote: "Love expressed through mist"
The topic is love expressed through mist. The poet thought there was nothing like an evening mist between them, yet it turns out that they cannot meet not because of any mist but because the beloved hides herself and will not meet him. Setting aside the excuse of being kept apart by mist, the poem voices the grief of realizing her coldness.

First line, “yūgiri no”: like the evening mist, answering the topic.
Second line, “hedate naku koso”: hedate is whatever stands between two people; the binding particle koso is answered by the perfective omōyure in the third line.
Third line, “omōyure”: it seems so; closing in the perfective form required by koso, which carries a concessive sense into the lower verse. The poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “kakurete kimi ga”: you hiding yourself, as if in mist; kakuru is used in association with the mist.
Fifth line, “awanu narikeri”: narikeri marks realization: it was that you would not meet me.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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