Yuki tokuru shimimi ni shidaku kasasagi no michiyuki nikuki Ashigara no yama

雪解くるしみみにしだくかささきの
道行きにくき足柄の山

Roma-ji: Yuki tokuru shimimi ni shidaku kasasagi no michiyuki nikuki Ashigara no yama
English Translation: With the snow melting,
trampled thick and thick again,
the kasasagi path,
how hard the way is to go
over Mount Ashigara.
Meaning: With the snow melting and the path at kasasagi trampled thick, how hard is the way over Mount Ashigara.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 975

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
With the snow melting and the path trampled thick, the way over Mount Ashigara is hard to go, the poet says. Ashigara, a steep mountain on the border of Sagami and Suruga, was known as a hard pass on the Tōkaidō. What kasasagi in the third line refers to is uncertain, but the poem tells of the toil of a mountain road turned to mud by melting snow.

First line, “yuki tokuru”: the snow melting.
Second line, “shimimi ni shidaku”: shimimi is thickly, without gaps, and shidaku is to trample.
Third line, “kasasagi no”: its meaning is uncertain; like kasasaki in 1005, it may be kazasaki, the leading edge of the wind.
Fourth line, “michiyuki nikuki”: hard to travel.
Fifth line, “Ashigara no yama”: ending on a noun, the name of the mountain pass on the Tōkaidō.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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