Waga kokoro nagusamekanetsu sarashina ya obasuteyama ni teru tsuki o mite - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我が心慰めかねつ更級や
をばすて山に照る月を見て

Roma-ji: Waga kokoro nagusamekanetsu sarashina ya obasuteyama ni teru tsuki o mite
English Translation: This heart of mine
finds no comfort at all,
at Sarashina
gazing on the moon that shines
over Mount Obasute.
Meaning: I could find no comfort for my heart, gazing at the moon shining over Mount Obasute in Sarashina.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 878

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Gazing at the moon shining over Mount Obasute in Sarashina in Shinano, the speaker cannot find comfort. The poem is known as a classic example of the lovely moon deepening sorrow rather than easing it. The author is unknown.
The poem is linked to the Obasute tale in Episode 156 of The Tales of Yamato, where a man who abandoned his aged aunt on the mountain looks at the moon, repents, and brings her home. Later Mount Obasute became famous for moon-viewing, and the title of the Sarashina Diary derives from this poem.

First line "waga kokoro" presents the speaker's inconsolable heart as the subject.
Second line "nagusamekanetsu": kane means "unable," closed firmly with the perfective tsu; the poem pauses here.
Third line "sarashina ya" names the place in Shinano with the exclamatory ya.
Fourth line "obasuteyama ni" is the mountain in Sarashina known for the legend of the abandoned aunt.
Fifth line "teru tsuki o mite" gives, through inversion, the reason for the speaker's grief at the very end, contrasting the bright moon with the clouded heart.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Osoku izuru tsuki ni mo aru kana ashihiki no yama no anata mo oshimu beranari
Next Poem: Ōkata wa tsuki o mo medeji kore zo kono tsumoreba hito no oi to naru mono