思ひ出もなき故郷の山なれど
隠れゆくはたあはれなりけり
隠れゆくはたあはれなりけり
- Roma-ji
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Omoide mo naki furusato no yama naredo kakureyuku hata aware narikeri
- English Translation
-
Though they are but hills
of my old home, holding for me
no memories at all,
as they vanish from my sight,
how they move me all the same
- Meaning
- They are only the hills of my old home, holding no memories for me, and yet as they disappear from view, they move me all the same.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 391
The hills of his old home hold no particular memories, yet as he travels away and they disappear from sight, the poet is moved all the same. He frankly expresses feelings that well up unexpectedly as they vanish, though he thought he had no attachment to his home.
One of the travel poems continuing from those before it, it bids farewell to the hills of home, in contrast with poems longing for the capital.
The first line, "omoide mo," uses "mo": not even memories.
The second line, "naki furusato no," refers to an old home without memories.
The third line, "yama naredo," combines the perfective of the copula and the concessive "do": though they are hills.
The fourth line, "kakureyuku hata," refers to the hills vanishing, adding with the adverb "hata": all the same.
The final line, "aware narikeri," ends with the exclamatory "keri": how moving it is.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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