Itsu to naku omoi ni moyuru waga mi kana Asama no keburi shimeru yo mo naku

いつとなくおもひに燃ゆる我が身かな
浅間の煙しめる世もなく

Roma-ji: Itsu to naku omoi ni moyuru waga mi kana Asama no keburi shimeru yo mo naku
English Translation: At no single time
but ever, in the fire of love
my body burns, ah!
like the smoke of Asama
that never once grows damp.
Meaning: Ceaselessly my body burns in the fire of love, like the smoke of Asama that never once grows damp and dies.
Commentary: Love Poems 696

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love"
The poet's body burns without pause in the fire of love, like the smoke of Mount Asama in Shinano, which never grows damp and dies away. The hi of omoi carries fire, and the endless flame of love is laid over Asama, ever sending up its smoke.
After 691 in this book set the smoke of Fuji vying with love's longing, this poem lays the fire of love over the smoke of Asama, so that two smoking mountains stand together as figures for the flame of love.

First line, “itsu to naku”: at no particular time, ceaselessly.
Second line, “omoi ni moyuru”: omoi is a pivot word joining love's longing with hi, fire, and moyuru, burning, is associated with it.
Third line, “waga mi kana”: kana is exclamatory; the poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “Asama no keburi”: Asama is the mountain in Shinano, sung as one that sends up smoke.
Fifth line, “shimeru yo mo naku”: shimeru is to grow damp: never a time when the smoke dampens and dies. This returns in inversion to the upper verse.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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