Masokagami terubeki tsuki o shirotae no kumo ka kakuseru amatsu kiri kamo

まそ鏡照るべき月を白栲の
雲か隠せる天つ霧かも

Roma-ji: Masokagami terubeki tsuki o shirotae no kumo ka kakuseru amatsu kiri kamo
English Translation: Bright as a clear mirror
the moon ought to be shining—
is it the white
clouds that hide it from my sight,
or the mists of heaven's sky?
Meaning: The moon that ought to shine like a clear mirror cannot be seen—is it the white clouds that hide it, or the mists of the heavens?
Commentary: Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1079

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the Moon"
Puzzled that the moon, which should surely be shining, cannot be seen, the poet wonders whether white clouds have hidden it or whether mist in the sky is to blame. The longing for the moon is expressed as a question about what is concealing it.
It is one of the poems in the moon group about a moon that cannot be seen, and its idea is close to poem 1083 in this book, which guesses that frost-bringing clouds hide the moon. The poet is unknown.

The first line uses "masokagami," a clear, flawless mirror, as a pillow word for "teru" (to shine).
In the second line, "the moon ought to be shining," "beki" expresses what should naturally be so.
The third line uses "shirotae," white cloth, as a pillow word for "kumo" (cloud), conveying the whiteness of the clouds.
The fourth line, "clouds that hide it from my sight," is a kakari-musubi construction in which "ka" is answered by the attributive "-ru," asking whether clouds are hiding it.
In the final line, "or the mists of heaven's sky," "amatsu" means "of heaven," and "kamo" is interrogative. Set beside "kumo ka" in the fourth line, it offers two possible causes, cloud or mist.
Source: Manyoshu
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