Yamazato mo ukiyo no naka o hanareneba tani no uguisu ne o nomi zo naku - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

山里も憂き世の中を離れねば
谷の鶯音をのみぞ鳴く

Roma-ji: Yamazato mo ukiyo no naka o hanareneba tani no uguisu ne o nomi zo naku
English Translation: Even mountain homes
cannot stand apart from this
world of sorrows, so
the warbler in the valley
does nothing but cry aloud
Meaning: Even a mountain village is not apart from this sorrowful world, and so the warbler in the valley does nothing but cry its voice aloud.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 517

Even a mountain village, the poet says, does not stand apart from this world of sorrows, and so the warbler in the valley does nothing but cry. Seeing sorrow even in the mountain home thought to be a refuge from the world, he overlays the warbler's song with weeping and expresses the feeling that one cannot escape the world's troubles.
The mountain village also appears in poem 532 in this book, which laments that its loneliness makes it impossible to go on living there.
The author, Tadamichi, is Fujiwara no Tadamichi. A son of the Regent Fujiwara no Tadazane, he became Regent, Chancellor and Grand Minister and was known as the Hosshōji Lay Priest. One of his poems appears in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, 'yamazato mo', means even a mountain village, the particle mo adding the sense of even the place thought to be a refuge from the world.
Second line, 'ukiyo no naka o', means this sorrowful world.
Third line, 'hanareneba', means since it is not apart, the conditional ne of the negative zu followed by ba expressing a settled reason.
Fourth line, 'tani no uguisu', means the warbler of the valley. In the bird of the valley, deeper still within the mountains, the poet sees one who cannot fully escape the world.
Final line, 'ne o nomi zo naku', means does nothing but cry aloud, the particle zo answered by the attributive naku. Naku, to sing, also echoes naku, to weep.
Author: Fujiwara no Tadamichi
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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