Samidare no sora dani sumeru tsukikage ni namida no ame wa haruru ma mo nashi - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

五月雨の空だに澄める月影に
涙の雨は晴るる間もなし

Roma-ji: Samidare no sora dani sumeru tsukikage ni namida no ame wa haruru ma mo nashi
English Translation: In the moon's clear light
where even the sky of the long
rains of May is bright,
the rain of my own tears
has no pause in which to clear.
Meaning: In the moonlight, where even the sky of the early summer rains has cleared, the rain of my tears has no moment to clear.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1491

Headnote: "When the sky of the early summer rains had cleared and the moon was bright."
This is the ninth poem of the sequence on summer. Even the sky of the early summer rains has cleared and the moon shines clear, yet the rain of the poet's tears has no moment to clear. According to the headnote, it was composed when the sky of the early summer rains cleared and the moon was bright.
The author, "Akazome Emon," was the daughter of Akazome no Tokimochi. She became the wife of Ōe no Masahira and served Rinshi, wife of Fujiwara no Michinaga, and her daughter Jōtōmon'in.

The first line, "samidare no," refers to the long rains of the fifth lunar month. It presents the sky of the rainy season.
In the second line, "sora dani sumeru," "dani" means "even." It stresses that even a sky of long rains has cleared, and "ru" is the auxiliary of continuation.
The third line, "tsukikage ni," refers to the moonlight shining clear in the cleared sky.
The fourth line, "namida no ame wa," likens tears to rain, pairing with "samidare" in the first line. It contrasts the rain of the sky, which clears, with the rain of tears, which does not.
The last line, "haruru ma mo nashi," declares that though the sky clears, the tears have no moment to clear. Contrasting the clearing sky with the heart that cannot clear, it links to the next poem on the early summer rains.
Author: Akazome Emon
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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