Miyako nite yama no ha ni mishi tsuki naredo umi yori idete umi ni koso ire - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

都にて山の端に見し月なれど
海より出でて海にこそ入れ

Roma-ji: Miyako nite yama no ha ni mishi tsuki naredo umi yori idete umi ni koso ire
English Translation: In the capital
I saw it on the mountain's rim,
this very moon, and yet
it rises here out of the sea
and into the sea it sets
Meaning: This is the moon I watched on the mountain rim in the capital, yet here it rises from the sea and sinks into the sea.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Parting Poems 1355

Headnote: "Seeing from the boat as he was coming up from Tosa that the moon seemed to rise not from the mountain rim but from among the waves, he recalled how Abe no Nakamaro long ago in China had sung 'furisake mireba.'"
The poet says that the moon he saw on the mountain rim in the capital rises from the sea and sinks into the sea. On the sea voyage from Tosa to the capital, watching the moon rise from the waves rather than over the hills, he feels the distance of his journey in how different the moon is from the one he knew in the capital.
According to the headnote, on the boat coming up from Tosa, the moon seemed to rise from among the waves rather than over the mountain rim, and he recalled Abe no Nakamaro's poem in China with the words "furisake mireba," gazing far. The poem also appears in the Tosa Diary in slightly different wording, with the last line "nami ni koso ire."
The poet, "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. A son of Ki no Mochiyuki, he was the chief compiler of the Kokinshu and wrote its Japanese preface. He is also known as the author of the Tosa Diary, and the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu includes his poem "Hito wa isa kokoro mo shirazu furusato wa."

The first line, "Miyako nite," means "in the capital."
The second line, "yama no ha ni mishi," means "that I saw on the mountain rim," the moon in the capital rising and setting over the hills.
The third line, "tsuki naredo," means "the moon, and yet," with "do" concessive.
The fourth line, "umi yori idete," means "rising from the sea," set against "the mountain rim" of the second line.
The last line, "umi ni koso ire," means "into the sea it sets," with "koso" closed by the realis "ire," repeating "umi" from the fourth line.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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