天の海に月の舟浮け桂楫
懸けて漕ぐ見ゆ月人壮士
懸けて漕ぐ見ゆ月人壮士
- Roma-ji
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Ame no umi ni tsuki no fune uke katsurakaji kakete kogu miyu tsukihitootoko
- English Translation
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On heaven's wide sea
setting forth the boat of the moon,
katsura for oars
fitted on, I see him row,
the young man of the moon above.
- Meaning
- On the sea of heaven, the young man of the moon launches his moon-boat, fits it with oars of katsura wood, and rows—I can see him.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2223
Headnote: "On the Moon"
This poem likens the sky to a sea and the moon to a boat, depicting the young man of the moon rowing with oars of katsura wood, and its headnote is "On the Moon." It is a fanciful poem grandly picturing the moon's passage across the night sky as a youth rowing a boat. Like "the young man of the moon rowing across the Heavenly River" in the Tanabata poem 2043 and the moon's katsura in 2202, it personifies the moon.
The first line, "on the sea of heaven," likens the sky to a sea.
The second line, "launching the moon-boat," likens the moon to a boat.
The third line, "katsurakaji," names oars made of the katsura tree said to grow in the moon.
The fourth line, "fitting them and rowing, he is seen," breaks the poem after the fourth line.
The last line, "tsukihitootoko," likens the moon to a young man, closing as an address.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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