Uki mi yo ni nagaraeba nao omoiide yo tamoto ni chigiru ariake no tsuki - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

憂き身世にながらへばなほ思ひ出でよ
袂に契る有明の月

Roma-ji: Uki mi yo ni nagaraeba nao omoiide yo tamoto ni chigiru ariake no tsuki
English Translation: If I should live on,
wretched in this world, then still
remember this night,
O moon lingering at dawn
that pledges faith upon my sleeves.
Meaning: If this wretched self lives on in the world, still remember me, O dawn moon that pledges itself tonight upon my sleeves.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1513

Headnote: "Composed on the spirit of 'Personal Grievance Before the Moon.'"
This is the fifth and last poem of the sequence recalling the past through the moon. If this wretched self should live on, the poet asks, let the dawn moon that now lodges on his sleeves and pledges its bond still remember him. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Personal Grievance Before the Moon."
The author, "Fujiwara no Tsunemichi Ason," was an official of the Heian period.
"Personal Grievance Before the Moon" is a topic on expressing one's own feelings before the moon.

The first line, "uki mi yo ni," is hypermetric and means "this wretched self, in the world."
The second line, "nagaraeba nao," means "if I should live on, still." He thinks on a life whose future he cannot see.
The third line, "omoiide yo," is imperative, meaning "remember," and the poem breaks after the third line. Whereas the preceding poems said they would not forget the moon, here he asks the moon to remember him.
The fourth line, "tamoto ni chigiru," likens the moon lodging on his tear-wet sleeves to the moon pledging a bond with him.
The last line, "ariake no tsuki," ends on a noun and is an address. Entrusting a promise for later days to the moon that remains until dawn, it closes the sequence recalling the palace moon with a personal lament.
Author: Fujiwara no Tsunemichi
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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