Newatashi ni shirushi no sao ya tatetsuran kohiki machitsuru Koshi no nakayama

根渡しにしるしの竿や立てつらん
こひき待ちつる越の中山

Roma-ji: Newatashi ni shirushi no sao ya tatetsuran kohiki machitsuru Koshi no nakayama
English Translation: For the crossing, have
they set up poles to mark the way?
So I wonder there,
in the long-awaited pass,
the mountain pass of Koshi.
Meaning: Have they set up marker poles to cross the snow? So I wonder at the mountain pass of Koshi, so long awaited.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 976

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
At the mountain pass of Koshi, deep in snow, have they set up marker poles for crossing over the snow? the poet wonders. The pass of Koshi on the Hokurikudō was known for its deep snow. What newatashi in the first line and kohiki in the fourth refer to is uncertain, but the poem imagines a mountain crossing in snow country.

First line, “newatashi ni”: of uncertain meaning, apparently the crossing over snow.
Second line, “shirushi no sao ya”: marker poles; ya is answered by ran in the third line.
Third line, “tatetsuran”: have they set them up? The poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “kohiki machitsuru”: of uncertain meaning, apparently long awaited.
Fifth line, “Koshi no nakayama”: ending on a noun, the name of the snowy pass of Koshi.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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