Wasureji yo wasuru na to dani iitemashi kumoi no tsuki no kokoro ariseba - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

忘れじよ忘るなとだに言ひてまし
雲居の月の心ありせば

Roma-ji: Wasureji yo wasuru na to dani iitemashi kumoi no tsuki no kokoro ariseba
English Translation: I shall not forget—
'Do not forget me,' at least,
I would like to say,
if the moon above the clouds
had a heart that it could feel.
Meaning: I will never forget—if only the moon above the palace clouds had a heart, I would at least ask it not to forget me.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1509

Headnote: "Composed while watching the moon all night, when the abdication drew near in Eiji 1."
This is the first poem of the sequence recalling the past through the moon. The poet vows never to forget, and wishes he could at least ask the moon of the palace not to forget him, if it had a heart. According to the headnote, it was composed in Eiji 1 (1141), as Emperor Sutoku's abdication drew near, while watching the moon all night.
The author, "Master of the Empress Dowager's Household Shunzei," is Fujiwara no Shunzei. He was the son of Fujiwara no Toshitada and the father of Teika. He served as Master of the Empress Dowager's Household and took the tonsure in Angen 2 (1176). He compiled the Senzai Wakashū.
In Eiji 1, Emperor Sutoku yielded the throne to Emperor Konoe.

The first line, "wasureji yo," adds the exclamatory "yo" to "ji," negative volition, declaring first his own heart: "I shall never forget."
The second line, "wasuru na to dani," adds "dani" to the prohibitive "na," meaning "at least, 'do not forget.'" Setting "wasureji" of the first line beside "wasuru na," it expresses the wish that neither forget the other.
The third line, "iitemashi," uses the counterfactual "mashi," meaning "I would like to say." The poem breaks after the third line.
In the fourth line, "kumoi no tsuki no," "kumoi" means the palace, presenting the moon shining in the palace sky. It likens Emperor Sutoku, soon to abdicate, to the moon.
The last line, "kokoro ariseba," uses the counterfactual "seba," meaning "if it had a heart." Though he knows the moon has no heart, he speaks to it, entrusting to it his regret at parting from the emperor.
Author: Fujiwara no Shunzei
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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