In a summer night,
still thinking it early eve,
dawn has already come—
in what part of the clouds now
does the moon find its lodging?
- Meaning
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On a summer night, while I still think it is only early evening, dawn has already come—where among the clouds does the moon now find its lodging?
- Commentary
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Book III, Summer Poems
Composed at dawn after a night when the moon shone beautifully.
The poem expresses the shortness of summer nights. Though somewhat exaggerated, it imagines that before the moon can set in the west, the sun has already risen, and so the moon must be resting hidden somewhere among the clouds.
- Author
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Fukayabu
- Source
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Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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Though it is not I,
the cuckoo, among deutzia,
cries as it flies on—
as if through this weary world,
it wanders in sorrow like me.
-
Lotus leaves that grow
unstained within muddy waters,
keeping a pure heart—
why then do they, with the dew,
make it seem a shining gem?
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Since the day it bloomed,
I have thought not even dust
should settle on it—
this pink, like one I sleep with,
dear as my beloved one.
-
Where summer and autumn
pass each other in the sky,
along that pathway—
does from one side, perhaps, blow
a wind already cool and clear?