Sode no ue ni tare yue tsuki wa yadoru zo to yoso ni nashite mo hito no toe kashi - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

袖の上に誰ゆゑ月は宿るぞと
よそになしても人の問へかし

Roma-ji: Sode no ue ni tare yue tsuki wa yadoru zo to yoso ni nashite mo hito no toe kashi
English Translation: "Upon your sleeve there,
for whose sake does the moon dwell?"—
even as a thing
that is none of your concern,
I wish that you would ask me.
Meaning: "For whose sake does the moon dwell upon your sleeve?" If only you would ask me that, even as though it were no concern of yours.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 1139

Headnote: "When the men composed on 'Love at Night' at Uji."
This is the second of two poems on the moon. The speaker wishes the beloved would ask, even as if it were none of her concern, for whose sake the moon dwells on his tear-wet sleeve. According to the headnote, it was composed when the men in attendance presented poems on the topic "Love at Night" at Uji.
The author is Fujiwara no Hideyoshi, who served Retired Emperor Go-Toba as a guard of the north quarters and was valued as a poet. He later took vows under the name Nyogan.
Uji, in Yamashiro Province (Uji, Kyoto Prefecture), is a poetic place-name sung with the Uji River, its fish weirs, and the Lady of the Bridge.

The first line, "sode no ue ni," means "upon my sleeve," taking up the dawn moon of the preceding poem and singing of the moon reflected on a tear-wet sleeve.
The second line, "tare yue tsuki wa," means "for whose sake the moon."
The third line, "yadoru zo to," means "does it dwell," taking the form of a question: for whose sake is the moon reflected on a tear-wet sleeve? Poem 1136 in this book also sings of the moon dwelling in the tears on a sleeve, and the same device is repeated.
The fourth line, "yoso ni nashite mo," means "even treating it as another's affair," as if it had nothing to do with her.
The last line, "hito no toe kashi," means "I wish you would ask," the imperative with the emphatic "kashi." Like "yoso nagara ayashi to dani mo omoe kashi" in poem 1121 of this book, it pleads through "kashi" to be noticed, even from afar.
Author: Fujiwara no Hideyoshi
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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