Au koto no ima wa hatsuka ni narinureba yo fukakarade wa tsuki nakarikeri - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ふことの今ははつかになりぬれば
夜深からではつきなかりけり

Roma-ji: Au koto no ima wa hatsuka ni narinureba yo fukakarade wa tsuki nakarikeri
English Translation: Now that our meetings
have grown so few, like the moon
of the twentieth night,
unless the night is far along
there is no moon, no way at all
Meaning: Now that our meetings have grown so rare, like the moon of the twentieth night, which rises only late, I have no way to reach you until the night is deep.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Forms 1048

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Punning on "hatsuka," few and the twentieth day, and "tsuki," moon and means, the poet likens the difficulty of meeting a cooling lover to the moon of the twentieth night, which does not rise until late.
The author is Taira no Nakaki. The son of Taira no Suenaga, he served as governor of Ōmi, among other posts.

First line, "Au koto no," means our meetings.
Second line, "ima wa hatsuka ni," is a pivot word joining "wazuka," few, and "hatsuka," the twentieth day.
Third line, "narinureba," is causal: since it has become so.
Fourth line, "yo fukakarade wa," means unless the night grows deep, since the moon of the twentieth rises late.
Fifth line, "tsuki nakarikeri," is a pivot word joining moon and "tsuki," a means. Like 1029 and 1030 in this book, it plays on moon and means.
Author: Taira no Nakaki
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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