Kyō wa mata shiranu nohara ni yukikurenu izure no yama ka tsuki wa izuran - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今日はまた知らぬ野原に行き暮れぬ
いづれの山か月は出づらん

Roma-ji: Kyō wa mata shiranu nohara ni yukikurenu izure no yama ka tsuki wa izuran
English Translation: Today once again
on a plain I do not know
night has overtaken me;
from which of the mountains here
will the moon rise into the sky?
Meaning: Today once again, night has overtaken me on a plain I do not know. From which of the mountains will the moon rise?
Commentary: Book Ten Travel Poems 956

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed as a travel poem."
This is the seventh of a sequence of poems on the road at nightfall and lodging for the night. Once again night has fallen on an unknown plain, and the speaker wonders from which mountain the moon will rise, nightfall on a road through unfamiliar land. According to the headnote, it was composed as a travel poem.
The author, Minamoto no Ienaga, was an official and poet of the early Kamakura period. He served Retired Emperor Go-Toba, managed the affairs of the Poetry Bureau, and wrote the Minamoto no Ienaga Diary.
The scene is nightfall on a journey, on an unfamiliar plain.
The direct occasion is composing on the topic of "travel."

The first line, "kyō wa mata," means "today once again." Where "akeba mata" in 939 thinks of tomorrow's journey, here the speaker looks back on another day of travel repeated.
The second line, "shiranu nohara ni," means "on a plain I do not know." Like "shirazarishi" in 944, it shows the unfamiliarity of the land on the road.
The third line, "yukikurenu," means "night has overtaken me on the way." Closing with the perfective "nu," the poem breaks after this third line, and like "hi wa kure ni keri" in 950, it sings of nightfall on the road.
The fourth line, "izure no yama ka," means "from which mountain?" The particle "ka" poses a question, answered by "ran" in the attributive form. It shows that in unknown land even the direction of moonrise is unknown.
The last line, "tsuki wa izuran," means "will the moon rise?" It shows a heart waiting for the moon after nightfall. Taking up the sequence on the moon on the road, here the forlornness of a land where one cannot even tell the mountain of moonrise is sung of.
Author: Minamoto no Ienaga
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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