Yama no ha o ou mikazuki no hatsuhatsu ni imo o zo mitsuru kōshiki made ni

山の端を追ふ三日月のはつはつに
妹をぞ見つる恋ほしきまでに

Roma-ji: Yama no ha o ou mikazuki no hatsuhatsu ni imo o zo mitsuru kōshiki made ni
English Translation: Like the crescent moon
that chases the mountain's edge,
just a fleeting glimpse,
only so I saw my love,
enough to make me yearn more
Meaning: Like the crescent moon chasing the mountain's rim as it sets, I caught just a fleeting glimpse of my love, enough to set me yearning.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2461

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
As one barely glimpses the crescent moon sinking as if chasing the mountain's rim, the speaker saw the beloved only for a moment, and that very glimpse made the longing unbearable: a love poem. The thin, fleeting crescent is laid over the image of a lover seen for an instant.
Like the preceding poem, this one speaks through the moon. Poem 2464 of this book also uses the crescent moon as a preface, but where this poem tells of seeing the beloved, if only a little, poem 2464 laments not meeting her, as the crescent cannot be clearly seen; the same crescent thus forms a pair of seeing and not seeing.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "yama no ha o": "the mountain's rim." "Yama no ha" is the ridge line where the mountain meets the sky.
Second line, "ou mikazuki no": "like the crescent moon that sinks as if chasing the rim." The first two lines form a preface, the thin crescent barely visible leading to "hatsuhatsu ni" in the third line.
Third line, "hatsuhatsu ni": "barely, just a little." Taking up the preface, it turns to the fleeting sight of the beloved.
Fourth line, "imo o zo mitsuru": "I saw my love." With the binding particle "zo," the perfective auxiliary "tsu" closes in its attributive form "tsuru" (kakari-musubi).
Fifth line, "kōshiki made ni": "to the point of longing." "Kohoshi" is an old form of "koishi" (dear, longed for), expressing how the brief glimpse only deepened the longing.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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