Tabi nareba yonaka o sashite teru tsuki no takashimayama ni kakuraku oshi mo

旅なれば夜中をさして照る月の
高島山に隠らく惜しも

Roma-ji: Tabi nareba yonaka o sashite teru tsuki no takashimayama ni kakuraku oshi mo
English Translation: Being on a journey,
toward the middle of the night
the moon that shines bright—
behind Takashima's mountain
to see it hide, how I regret.
Meaning: Because I am traveling, how I regret to see the moon that shines on toward midnight sink out of sight behind Mount Takashima.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems 1691

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems composed at Takashima"
Feeling forlorn on the journey, the traveler regrets that the moon which lights his way toward midnight is disappearing behind Mount Takashima. The poem carries a deep attachment to the moon as a companion of the traveler's night.
This is the second of two poems composed at Takashima. Where the preceding poem speaks of the sound of river waves, this one turns to the moon in the night sky, portraying the traveler's night through sound and light.
The author, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, was a court poet active in the reigns of Jitō and Monmu. This poem is taken from the Hitomaro Collection, which is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he gathered.
The text gives the first line as tabi nareba, which does not match the kana line's tabi ni areba. The text's wording is followed here.

The first line, "being on a journey," states first the reason for regret.
The second line, "toward the middle of the night," means shining on toward midnight.
The third line, "the moon that shines bright," is the moon that lights the road.
The fourth line, "behind Takashima's mountain," names the peak into which the moon sinks.
The final line, "to see it hide, how I regret," uses kakuraku, a nominalized form of kakuru, "to hide," with oshi, "regrettable," and the exclamatory mo.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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