Shirakumo no kie wa kienade nani shi ka mo Tatsuta no yama no na nomi tatsuramu

白雲の消えは消えなで何しかも
たつたの山の名のみ立つらむ

Roma-ji: Shirakumo no kie wa kienade nani shi ka mo Tatsuta no yama no na nomi tatsuramu
English Translation: If, like the white clouds,
I'd vanish, yet I vanish not;
why then, like the hill
of Tatsuta, where clouds arise,
does only rumor rise?
Meaning: Though I would vanish like the white clouds, I do not; why, then, like the clouds rising on Mount Tatsuta, does only rumor of my love rise up?
Commentary: Love Poems 523

Headnote: "Love, on clouds"
The poet wishes he might vanish like the white clouds, but he does not, and asks why, as clouds rise on Mount Tatsuta, only rumor of his love rises.
According to the notes in the base text, the Teika text reads line 5 as nami no tatsuramu. Here the base text is followed.

Line 1 means "the white clouds."
Line 2 means "would vanish, yet vanish not."
Line 3 means "why," shi and kamo being intensive.
Line 4 plays on Tatsuta, the mountain in Yamato, and tatsu, clouds and rumors rising.
Line 5 means "why does only my name rise?" ramu conjecturing a cause; against "my name shall not rise" in 435, here the poet laments that rumor has risen.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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