Tsune wa sane omowanu mono o kono tsuki no sugi kakuramaku oshiki yoi kamo

常はさね思はぬものをこの月の
過ぎ隠らまく惜しき宵かも

Roma-ji: Tsune wa sane omowanu mono o kono tsuki no sugi kakuramaku oshiki yoi kamo
English Translation: At other times
I never think such a thing,
yet this moon of ours—
how I grieve to see it pass
and hide itself this evening
Meaning: At other times I never give it a thought, yet tonight how I grieve that this moon should pass across the sky and hide itself away.
Commentary: Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1069

Headnote: "On the Moon"
This poem expresses regret at the moon setting and passing from sight. The poet says that ordinarily he pays no attention to the moon's going down, yet tonight alone he finds it a loss, frankly conveying the feeling of a special night.
It is the first of eighteen poems gathered under the heading "On the Moon." As if answering the preceding poem, where the moon's boat "rows out of sight," this poem grieves that the moon will "pass and hide." The poet is unknown.

In the first line, "At other times," the adverb "sane," used with a negative, means "not at all." By marking "at other times," the poet sets ordinary nights against this one.
In the second line, "I never think such a thing," the particle "mono o" is concessive, leading from the usual indifference to tonight's feeling.
The third line, "this moon of ours," points to the moon the poet is gazing at now. The focus shifts from the moon's boat crossing the heavens in the preceding poem to the single moon before his eyes.
In the fourth line, "how I grieve to see it pass and hide," "-maku" is the nominalized form of the auxiliary "mu," meaning "that it will pass and hide." The line shares the verb "kakuru" (to hide) with the last line of the preceding poem and carries on its image of the moon disappearing.
The final line, "this evening," closes with the noun "yoi" and the exclamatory particle "kamo," voicing a regret that is not felt on ordinary nights.
Source: Manyoshu
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