昔見し雲居をめぐる秋の月
今いくとせか袖に宿さん
今いくとせか袖に宿さん
- Roma-ji
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Mukashi mishi kumoi o meguru aki no tsuki ima ikutose ka sode ni yadosan
- English Translation
-
The autumn moon that
circles the palace skies, which
I saw long ago—
how many years more, I wonder,
shall I lodge it on my sleeves?
- Meaning
- The autumn moon that circles the palace sky I knew long ago—for how many more years will I keep it lodged on my tear-wet sleeves?
- Commentary
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Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1512
Headnote: "An autumn poem from the hundred-poem sequence I presented."
This is the fourth poem of the sequence recalling the past through the moon. The poet asks for how many more years she will reflect on her tearful sleeves the autumn moon that circles the palace sky she once knew. According to the headnote, it is an autumn poem from a hundred-poem sequence presented to Retired Emperor Go-Toba.
The author, "Nijō-in no Sanuki," was the daughter of Minamoto no Yorimasa. She served Emperor Nijō and later Gishūmon'in.
The first line, "mukashi mishi," means "that I once saw." It recalls the palace of the days when she served Emperor Nijō.
In the second line, "kumoi o meguru," "kumoi" means the palace. The moon's circling in the sky is overlaid with the days she spent at court.
The third line, "aki no tsuki," presents the autumn moon seen at the palace, and the poem breaks after the third line. It takes up "kumoi no tsuki" and "kumo no ue no tsuki" of the preceding poems.
The fourth line, "ima ikutose ka," means "how many more years," with the particle "ka" expressing a question. She thinks how few years may remain.
The last line, "sode ni yadosan," closes the kakari-musubi of the particle "ka" with the attributive form "n." Like "sode ni hikari no yadoruran" of 1510 in this book, it lodges the moon on tearful sleeves, expressing an aged person's longing for the past.
- Author
- Nijoin no Sanuki
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Kokoro ni wa wasururu toki mo nakarikeri miyo no mukashi no kumo no ue no tsuki
- Next Poem
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Uki mi yo ni nagaraeba nao omoiide yo tamoto ni chigiru ariake no tsuki