Ama no hara kaze ni ukitaru ukigumo no yukue sadamenu koi mo suru kana

天の原風に浮きたる浮雲の
行方定めぬ恋もするかな

Roma-ji: Ama no hara kaze ni ukitaru ukigumo no yukue sadamenu koi mo suru kana
English Translation: Like a drifting cloud
that floats upon the wind
across the plain of heaven,
with no settled course at all
is the love I bear, alas.
Meaning: Like a cloud drifting on the wind across the wide sky, the love I bear has no settled course.
Commentary: Love Poems 431

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Among poems on love"
Like a cloud blown drifting across the sky, the poet's love has no destination. Turning from the earthly scenes of the preceding poems to look up at the sky, he entrusts his unanchored heart to the clouds.

Line 1 means "the plain of heaven," the wide sky.
Line 2 means "floating on the wind."
Line 3 means "like a drifting cloud," and the first three lines form a preface leading to "no settled course"; uki in line 2 and ukigumo echo each other.
Line 4 means "with no settled destination," expressing like "not knowing where it goes" in 428 the uncertainty of love.
Line 5: kana is exclamatory. The following poems continue with clouds and birds crossing the sky.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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