Nagametsutsu ikutabi sode ni kumoruran shigure ni fukuru ariake no tsuki

English Translation

Gazing on and on,
how many times has it clouded
upon my sleeve?
Deep into the night of showers,
the moon that lingers into dawn

Meaning

As I gaze on and on, how many times has it clouded over on my tear-wet sleeve—the moon of dawn, as the night grows late amid the winter showers?

Commentary

Book Six Winter Poems 595

Headnote: "A winter poem among six poems presented at the Bureau of Poetry."
This is the fifth poem of the winter-moon sequence. Gazing at the dawn moon as the night grows late amid the showers, the speaker wonders how many times its light has clouded on a sleeve wet with tears. According to the headnote, it is a winter poem from six poems presented at the Bureau of Poetry.
The author, "Fujiwara no Ietaka Ason," is Fujiwara no Ietaka. A son of the Provisional Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Mitsutaka, he was one of the compilers of the Shin Kokin Wakashū and, rising to Junior Second Rank, was called the Mibu Second Rank.
The scene is late on a winter night of showers, and the place is where one gazes at the dawn moon.
The direct occasion is a winter poem composed when six poems were presented at the Bureau of Poetry established by Retired Emperor Go-Toba.

The first line, "nagametsutsu," means "while gazing in brooding thought," with "tsutsu" expressing continuance.
The second line, "ikutabi sode ni," means "how many times upon my sleeve," referring to the moonlight reflected on a sleeve wet with tears.
The third line, "kumoruran," means "has it clouded?" with "ran" as a conjectural auxiliary. It is not the moon itself but its reflection in the tears on the sleeve that clouds, and the poem breaks after the third line, in inverted relation to the lower verse.
The fourth line, "shigure ni fukuru," means "as the night deepens amid the showers." It suggests that the moon in the sky, too, is often clouded by the shower clouds.
The last line, "ariake no tsuki," closes on a noun and shares its last line with the preceding poem. There the light of the dawn moon lingered on a sleeve frozen with frost; here the moonlight on the sleeve is clouded by showers and tears, so that with the same pairing of dawn moon and sleeve, a sleeve where the light remains and a sleeve where it clouds form a pair.

Author

Fujiwara no Ietaka

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other