Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
世の中よ
Fujiwara no Shunzei · 皇太后宮大夫俊成
世の中よ
道こそなけれ
思ひ入る
山の奥にも
鹿ぞなくなる
Historical kana
よのなかよ
みちこそなけれ
おもひいる
やまのおくにも
しかぞなくなる
Original English translation
O world, there is no road out: even deep in the mountains where I seek refuge, a deer is crying.
History and context
Shunzei was an influential poet and compiler of the Senzaishū. The poem tests the familiar hope that mountain withdrawal might free a person from worldly distress.
Imagery and wordplay
Michikoso nakere denies an escape route. The deer’s cry brings sorrow into the place chosen to avoid it.
Senzaishū · 千載集雑中1148
Japanese text and historical kana follow the linked Wikisource transcription. Classical poems can have variant spellings and wording in different anthologies. The source anthology reference identifies the version represented in this collection, not necessarily its earliest surviving text. English prose translations and reading notes are original interpretations; some wordplay permits more than one reading.