classic waka stream

倉橋の山を高みか夜隠りに
出で来る月の光乏しき
Roma-ji

Kurahashi no yama o takami ka yogomori ni idekuru tsuki no hikari tomoshiki

English Translation
Is it Kurahashi's
mountain standing high that makes—
in the depth of night
the moon that rises so late
cast so scant and faint a light?
Meaning
Is it because Mount Kurahashi is so high that the moon, rising only late in the night, gives so little light?
Commentary
Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 290

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems on the new moon by Hashihito no Sukune Ōura"
This moon poem pairs with the preceding one. Because Mount Kurahashi is so high, the moon rises late, and even when it appears deep in the night its light is faint. Where the previous poem rejoiced in the moonlight, this one regrets its scarcity, so that the two form a pair of light and shade. Mount Kurahashi is near Kurahashi in present-day Sakurai, Nara.
The poet, Hashihito no Ōura, was an official of the Nara period, but little is known of him.

First line "Is it Kurahashi's" names a place in Yamato.
Second line "mountain standing high": o ... mi expresses cause and ka is an interrogative binding particle, concluded by the attributive tomoshiki at the end.
Third line "in the depth of night": yogomori means late at night.
Fourth line "the moon that rises so late" describes the moon finally emerging.
Fifth line "cast so scant and faint a light" concludes in the attributive form, answering ka, and contrasts with the bright moon of the preceding poem.
Author
Hashihito no Ōura
Source
Manyoshu
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