Koekitsuru miyako hedatsuru yama sae ni hate wa kasumi ni kienu meru kana

越え来つる都隔つる山さへに
果ては霞に消えぬめるかな

Roma-ji: Koekitsuru miyako hedatsuru yama sae ni hate wa kasumi ni kienu meru kana
English Translation: The mountains I have crossed,
that stand between me and
the capital behind—
even they in the end
seem to vanish into haze.
Meaning: Even the mountains I have crossed, which stand between me and the capital, seem in the end to have vanished into the haze.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1100

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composing poems on travel"
Even the mountains he crossed, those that separate him from the capital, seem at last to vanish into the haze, the poet says, expressing the loneliness of a capital that recedes as the journey goes on until even the dividing mountains are lost from sight.
The mountains between him and the capital at least marked its direction; with them gone into the haze, it is as though his last link to the city were lost. After the preceding poem's thoughts of the people of the capital, this one sings of losing the visible trace of it.

First line, “koekitsuru”: that I have crossed; tsuru is the attributive of the perfective.
Second line, “miyako hedatsuru”: that separate me from the capital.
Third line, “yama sae ni”: sae adds, "even the mountains."
Fourth line, “hate wa kasumi ni”: in the end, into the haze.
Fifth line, “kienu meru kana”: meru, from meri, infers from what is seen, "they seem to have vanished," with exclamatory kana.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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