Miezu tomo tare koizarame yama no ha ni isayou tsuki o yoso ni miteshika

見えずとも誰れ恋ひざらめ山の端に
いさよふ月を外に見てしか

Roma-ji: Miezu tomo tare koizarame yama no ha ni isayou tsuki o yoso ni miteshika
English Translation: Though it be unseen,
who would not yearn for it so?
On the mountain's rim,
the moon lingering there,
would I might glimpse it from afar!
Meaning: Even unseen, who would not long for it? The moon lingering at the mountain's rim—if only I might see it, even from afar.
Commentary: Book Three Allegorical Poems 393

Headnote: "A poem on the moon by the novice Mansei"
This poem belongs to the section of Allegorical Poems in Book Three. The moon hesitating at the mountain's rim, slow to show itself, is longed for by all even when unseen, and he wishes at least to see it from afar. Read as an allegory likening the moon to a noble woman beyond approach, it expresses a love that wishes, even for one out of reach, at least to glimpse her from a distance.
The poet, Mansei, whose secular name was Kasa no Maro, served as Governor of Mino and in other posts before taking holy orders, and went down to Dazaifu as Superintendent for building the Kanzeon Temple of Tsukushi.

First line "Though it be unseen": tomo is a concessive condition.
Second line "who would not yearn for it so": me is the conditional of mu, a rhetorical question—"everyone would long for it." The sentence breaks here.
Third line "On the mountain's rim" means the ridgeline.
Fourth line "the moon lingering there": isayou means to hesitate—the moon slow to rise.
Fifth line "would I might glimpse it from afar": teshika is a particle of wishing.
Author: Mansei
Source: Manyoshu
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