Sayo fukete ama no to wataru tsukikage ni akazu mo kimi o aimitsuru kana - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

さ夜ふけて天の門渡る月影に
飽かずも君をあひ見つるかな

Roma-ji: Sayo fukete ama no to wataru tsukikage ni akazu mo kimi o aimitsuru kana
English Translation: As the night grew late,
in the moonlight crossing
the gateway of the sky,
still longing, not yet sated,
I came to meet with you
Meaning: Deep in the night, beneath the moonlight crossing the gateway of heaven, I met with you, yet parted still unsatisfied.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 648

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet met the beloved late at night under the moon crossing the sky, but time passed before he could be satisfied. The swiftness of the moon's passage across the sky is overlaid with the brevity of the meeting, conveying lingering regret.
The author is recorded as anonymous, and the name has not come down to us.
Where the preceding poem sang of a meeting in darkness, this one sings of a meeting in moonlight, contrasting darkness and light.

The first line, "sayo fukete," means "as the night grew late," with the prefix sa.
The second line, "ama no to wataru," means "crossing the gateway of the heavens," the moon moving across the sky.
The third line, "tsukikage ni," means "in the moonlight," contrasting with the "darkness" of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "akazu mo kimi o," means "still unsated," showing lingering regret.
The final line, "aimitsuru kana," means "how I met you," closing with the perfective tsu and exclamatory kana.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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