Kamogawa no minasoko sumite teru tsuki o yukite mimu to ya natsubarae suru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

賀茂河の水底澄みて照る月を
行きて見むとや夏祓へする

Roma-ji: Kamogawa no minasoko sumite teru tsuki o yukite mimu to ya natsubarae suru
English Translation: On the Kamo River
the depths are clear, and the moon
shines upon the stream—
is it to go and see it that
they hold the summer cleansing?
Meaning: Is it to go and see the moon shining on the Kamo River, so clear to its very depths, that people hold the summer purification?
Commentary: Book Four Summer Poems 215

Headnote: "Going out to the riverbank for the purification of the Sixth Month and seeing how bright the moon was."
The poet wonders whether people hold the summer purification in order to go and see the moon shining on the Kamo River, clear to its depths. Playfully recasting the riverside purification on the last day of the Sixth Month as a moon-viewing, he praises the purity of the moon reflected on the water.
According to the headnote, it was composed when he went out to the riverbank for the Sixth Month purification and saw how bright the moon was. The summer purification held on the last day of the Sixth Month cleansed the defilements of the past half year.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the author as "yomibito mo," but it is treated here as anonymous.

The first line, "Kamogawa no," names the Kamo River flowing through the capital, the riverbank where the purification was held. With the Kamo Festival of 161 in this book, it sings of the Kamo area.
The second line, "minasoko sumite," means "clear to the very depths," also suggesting the river's purity as it is cleansed by the rite.
The third line, "teru tsuki o," means "the moon shining on the water."
The fourth line, "yukite mimu to ya," means "is it to go and see?" with "ya" as an interrogative particle.
The last line, "natsubarae suru," means "hold the summer purification," with the attributive "suru" completing the kakarimusubi pattern with "ya" in the fourth line. The next poem, 216, also sings of purification, leading on to the end of the book.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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