Aki no tsuki nami no soko ni zo idenikeru matsuran yama no kai ya nakaran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

秋の月波の底にぞ出でにける
待つらん山のかひやなからん

Roma-ji: Aki no tsuki nami no soko ni zo idenikeru matsuran yama no kai ya nakaran
English Translation: The moon of autumn
has risen from the very depths
beneath the waves;
the hills that wait for it now,
all their gorges wait in vain.
Meaning: The autumn moon has risen from the bottom of the waves. The gorges of the hills that wait for it must find their waiting in vain.
Commentary: Book Three Autumn Poems 172

Headnote: "On the moon dwelling in the water"
Seeing the autumn moon reflected in the water as though it had risen from the bottom of the waves, the poet jests that those waiting for moonrise among the hills must be waiting in vain. With "kai" meaning both a mountain gorge and worth or effect, the poem wittily captures the moon reflected in the water. According to the headnote, it was composed on seeing the moon reflected in the water.
The author, written as Yoshinobu, is Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu. From the Ōnakatomi family, who served as chief priests of the Ise Shrine, he took part in compiling the Gosenshū and in reading the Man'yōshū as one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "aki no tsuki," is the clear autumn moon.
Second line, "nami no soko ni zo," means "at the bottom of the waves," with the emphatic particle "zo," which is resolved by "keru" in the third line. Following the preceding poem's moonlit waves on the surface, this poem sings of the moon reflected in the depths.
Third line, "idenikeru," means "has risen," and the poem pauses here. The charm lies in the surprise of the moon, thought to rise from the mountain ridge, rising instead from beneath the waves.
Fourth line, "matsuran yama no," means "of the hills that must be waiting," with "ran" as an auxiliary of present conjecture.
Final line, "kai ya nakaran," is a pivot word in which "kai" means both a gorge between hills and worth or effect. The questioning particle "ya" is resolved by the attributive "ran."
Author: Onakatomi no Yoshinobu
Source: Shui Wakashu
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