Yūzukuyo obotsukanaki o tamakushige futami no ura wa akete koso mime - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夕月夜おぼつかなきを玉匣
ふたみの浦はあけてこそ見め

Roma-ji: Yūzukuyo obotsukanaki o tamakushige futami no ura wa akete koso mime
English Translation: The evening moon
shows all too dimly, so
like a jewelled comb box,
the bay of Futami I'll
open to my eyes at dawn.
Meaning: The light of the evening moon is too faint to see by, so I will wait for the dawn and then, like opening a fine comb box, gaze upon the bay of Futami.
Commentary: Book Nine Travel Poems 417

Headnote: "When he went to the hot springs in the province of Tajima, they stopped at a place called the bay of Futami, and while they were having their evening meal of dried rice, the people traveling with him composed poems; on that occasion he composed this"
Because the evening moonlight is too faint, the poet says he will look at the famous bay of Futami after the night has lifted. From "tamakushige," jeweled comb box, he strings together the associated words lid, body and open, showing a light touch of skill fit for a gathering on the road.
According to the headnote, on the way to the hot springs of Tajima, the party stopped at the bay of Futami, and when the companions composed poems over their evening meal of dried rice, the author did too. It is a poem from a scene where fellow travelers exchanged verses.
The author, "Fujiwara no Kanesuke," is Fujiwara no Kanesuke, of the Northern House of the Fujiwara. He rose to middle counselor and was called the Tsutsumi Middle Counselor because his mansion stood on the embankment of the Kamo River. He was the great-grandfather of Murasaki Shikibu and one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.

The first line, "yūzukuyo," means the moon out in the evening, or an evening with such a moon.
The second line, "obotsukanaki o," says the moonlight is faint and the view unclear; "o" is a conjunctive particle of cause, "since it is unclear."
The third line, "tamakushige," a jeweled comb box, is a pillow word leading to "futa" (lid), "mi" (body) and "ake" (open).
In the fourth line, "futami" puns on the lid and body of the comb box and the place name Futami. The bay of Futami is thought to be on the coast of Tajima.
In the last line, "ake" puns on the night "dawning" and a box being "opened." After the binding particle "koso," the volitional auxiliary "mu" closes in its realis form "me." Where the preceding poem, 416, tells of sleeping out through cold nights, this poem waits for dawn to see the view, so the arrangement moves from night to morning.
Author: Fujiwara no Kanesuke
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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