Wakeirite tare ka wa hito o tazunu beki iwakagegusa no shigeru yamaji o

分け入りて誰かは人を尋ぬべき
岩陰草の茂る山路を

Roma-ji: Wakeirite tare ka wa hito o tazunu beki iwakagegusa no shigeru yamaji o
English Translation: Pushing their way through,
who would ever come to seek
someone out up here,
along the mountain path where
grass grows thick in the rocks' shade?
Meaning: Who would ever push their way in to call on anyone, along this mountain path where the grass grows thick in the shadow of the rocks?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 956

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Along this mountain path where grass grows thick in the shadow of the rocks, who would push their way in to call on anyone? the poet asks, conveying the solitude of a mountain dwelling no one visits through a path buried in grass.

First line, “wakeirite”: pushing in through the grass.
Second line, “tare ka wa hito o”: ka wa is a rhetorical binding particle answered by beki in the third line.
Third line, “tazunu beki”: who would come to call? No one; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “iwakagegusa no”: of the grass in the shade of rocks.
Fifth line, “shigeru yamaji o”: along the overgrown mountain path, inverted to follow the third line.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Nururedomo ame moru yado no ureshiki wa irikon tsuki o omou narikeri
Next Poem: Yamazato wa tani no kakehi no taedae ni mizukoidori no koe kikoyu nari