Tokiwayama shii no shitashiba karisuten kakurete omou kai no naki ka to

常磐山椎の下柴刈り捨てん
隠れて思ふかひのなきかと

Roma-ji: Tokiwayama shii no shitashiba karisuten kakurete omou kai no naki ka to
English Translation: On Mount Tokiwa
the brushwood beneath the shii
I will cut away,
for what is there to gain, I think,
in loving hidden there?
Meaning: I will cut away the brushwood beneath the chinquapins of Mount Tokiwa, for I wonder what is to be gained by loving in hiding.
Commentary: Love Poems 656

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love"
The poet will cut away the brushwood growing beneath the chinquapin trees of Mount Tokiwa, for he wonders whether there is any point in loving in secret, hidden in their shade. The brushwood hidden under the evergreen trees of Tokiwa is laid over his own secret love, and the poem expresses a wish to cut it away and bring his feelings into the open.
It resonates with the resolve shown in 653, to make his feelings known before resenting his lot.

First line, “Tokiwayama”: a poetic mountain in Yamashiro whose name means evergreen.
Second line, “shii no shitashiba”: shitashiba is brushwood growing beneath trees, sung as something hidden in their shade.
Third line, “karisuten”: n is intention: I will cut it away. The poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “kakurete omou”: loving hidden from others, echoing the brushwood hidden beneath the trees in the second line.
Fifth line, “kai no naki ka to”: wondering whether it is worthless, an inversion giving the reason for the upper verse.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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