Tera tsukuru kono waga tani ni tsuchi umeyo kimi bakari koso yama mo kuzusame

寺造るこの我が谷に土埋めよ
君ばかりこそ山も崩さめ

Roma-ji: Tera tsukuru kono waga tani ni tsuchi umeyo kimi bakari koso yama mo kuzusame
English Translation: Fill with earth for me
this valley where I would build
a temple of my own;
you alone, if anyone,
could bring a mountain down.
Meaning: Fill with earth this valley of mine where I am building a temple; you alone could even bring a mountain down.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 858

Headnote: "When the lay priest Sadanobu was building a hall at Kannonji, he sent this asking me to join in forming a bond with the Buddha"
When the lay priest Sadanobu was building a hall at Kannonji, he sent this asking Saigyō to join in forming a karmic bond. The lay priest Sadanobu is thought by some to be Fujiwara no Sadanobu, known as a calligrapher, and Shōkō is taken to be his religious name. Lend me your strength, enough to bring down mountains, to fill the valley where I build the temple, he writes, asking Saigyō's help in raising the hall.

First line, “tera tsukuru”: building a temple, taking up the hall of the headnote.
Second line, “kono waga tani ni”: this valley of mine, the site at Kannonji.
Third line, “tsuchi umeyo”: an imperative, fill it with earth; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “kimi bakari koso”: bakari limits and koso is answered by me in the fifth line.
Fifth line, “yama mo kuzusame”: could bring down even a mountain, exaggerating Saigyō's power.
Author: Shōkō
Source: Sankashu
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