Yama fukami hoda kiru nari to kikoetsutsu tokoro nigiwau ono no oto kana

山深みほだ伐るなりと聞こえつつ
所にぎはふ斧の音かな

Roma-ji: Yama fukami hoda kiru nari to kikoetsutsu tokoro nigiwau ono no oto kana
English Translation: The mountains so deep,
"They must be cutting firewood,"
I think as I hear—
livening up all around,
the sound of the swinging axe.
Meaning: Deep in the mountains, I hear what must be someone cutting firewood, the sound of the axe bringing a little life to the place.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1205

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sent from Kōya to the lay monk Jakunen when he was living in Ōhara"
The eighth of the ten. Deep in the mountains, the sound of an axe, apparently someone cutting firewood, brings a little life to the silent place.
Unlike the lonely and fearsome sounds so far, the axe suggests human work and brings a small liveliness to the mountains. Jakunen's 1215 sings of a man returning with firewood and akebi fruit, and the labor of cutting wood in the hills is shared by both.

First line, “yama fukami”: since the mountains are deep, shared by the series.
Second line, “hoda kiru nari to”: hoda are pieces of wood for fuel; nari infers from sound, "it seems they are cutting."
Third line, “kikoetsutsu”: being heard.
Fourth line, “tokoro nigiwau”: enlivening the place.
Fifth line, “ono no oto kana”: kana is exclamatory, closing on a sound of human work.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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