風越の峰の上にて見る時は
雲は麓のものにぞありける
雲は麓のものにぞありける
- Roma-ji
-
Kazakoshi no mine no ue nite miru toki wa kumo wa fumoto no mono ni zo arikeru
- English Translation
-
When I look out from
the summit of the peak
of Kazakoshi,
the clouds, I see, are things
that belong down at its foot
- Meaning
- Looking out from the summit of Kazakoshi, I see that the clouds belong down at the mountain's foot.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 389
Climbing the peak of Kazakoshi in Shinano and looking down, the poet finds that the clouds he thought were high in the sky trail around the mountain's foot. The fresh discovery of looking down on clouds from a high peak is expressed with wonder.
Like the preceding poem, 388, it ends its third line with "miru toki wa," continuing poems of scenes seen on a journey. It also shares the view from a peak with poem 302 of Book Nine, which said the moon looked just as high even from the cloud-capped summit of Mount Kagu.
The first line, "Kazakoshi no," names the peak of Kazakoshi, a poetic place in Shinano Province.
The second line, "mine no ue nite," means on the summit.
The third line, "miru toki wa," is the same as in the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "kumo wa fumoto no," singles out the clouds with "wa" and names "fumoto" (the foot of the mountain).
The final line, "mono ni zo arikeru," forms a kakari-musubi of "zo" and the attributive exclamatory "keri": they belong to the foot.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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