都にて月をあはれと思ひしは
数にもあらぬすさびなりけり
数にもあらぬすさびなりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Miyako nite tsuki o aware to omoishi wa kazu ni mo aranu susabi nari keri
- English Translation
-
In the capital,
when I thought the moon so moving,
that feeling, I see,
counted for nothing at all,
a mere passing amusement.
- Meaning
- When I thought the moon so moving in the capital, that was, I now see, a mere pastime not worth counting at all.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Travel Poems 937
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the eighth of a sequence of poems on the moon seen on a journey. Having come to know the deep beauty of the moon on the road, the speaker sees that his feeling for the moon in the capital was a mere pastime not worth counting. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, Saigyō, whose lay name was Satō Norikiyo, served Retired Emperor Toba as a guard of the Northern Quarter before taking holy orders, a poet of the late Heian period. He traveled throughout the provinces composing poems, and his personal collection is the Sankashū.
The scene is viewing the moon on a journey, far from the capital.
The direct occasion is not recorded.
The first line, "miyako nite," means "while in the capital." It begins with the same first line as 914, and both look back from the road on thoughts held in the capital.
The second line, "tsuki o aware to," means "the moon as moving." Following "ariake no tsuki" in the preceding poem, the moon is sung of again.
The third line, "omoishi wa," means "what I thought." The past "shi" looks back on his feelings in the capital. Like "kumoi to iishi" in 914, it reconsiders on the road words or thoughts from the capital.
The fourth line, "kazu ni mo aranu," means "counting for nothing." It dismisses his feelings for the moon in the capital as trivial.
The last line, "susabi nari keri," means "was a mere pastime, I now see." "Nari keri" expresses with feeling something realized only after setting out. As 914 learns in person on the road how far the land "beyond the clouds" really was, this poem learns that the moon's beauty felt in the capital falls short of the moon on the road, deepening the beauty of the traveler's moon through the contrast of capital and road.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- The dew of the fields, the waves along the bays— though I lay the blame, not knowing where I am bound, the moon shines in my wet sleeve.
- Together we left, and that sky I cannot forget, though time goes by; above the capital's hills, the moon that lingered into dawn.
- "When you see the moon"— so we promised as we parted; back in my old home, might that one tonight as well be wetting sleeves with tears?
- When the day has dawned, is that the mountain peak I must cross again— there where the passing moon goes, the white clouds that lie ahead?