Harukanaru tabi no sora ni mo okureneba urayamashiki wa aki no yo no tsuki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

遥かなる旅の空にも後れねば
うらやましきは秋の夜の月

Roma-ji: Harukanaru tabi no sora ni mo okureneba urayamashiki wa aki no yo no tsuki
English Translation: Even into the sky
of a journey far away,
it never lags behind;
how I envy it tonight,
the moon of an autumn night.
Meaning: It never falls behind, even across the sky of a distant journey—how I envy the moon of this autumn night.
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 347

Headnote: "When Minamoto no Kinsada was going down to Ōsumi, at the Sekido Lodge, on a night of bright moonlight, lamenting the parting"
The poet says that the one to be envied is the moon of the autumn night, for it can follow the traveler without falling behind even across the sky of a distant journey. By envying the moon that can go anywhere with the traveler, he expresses the sorrow of a parting in which he himself must stay behind in the capital. According to the headnote, it was composed when Minamoto no Kinsada was going down to the province of Ōsumi, as they lamented their parting at the Sekido Lodge on a night of bright moonlight.
Taira no Kanemori, of a Taira line descended from Emperor Kōkō, was a poet of the mid-Heian period. He is known for his performance at the palace poetry contest of the fourth year of Tentoku and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "harukanaru," means "distant," referring to the long road to Ōsumi.
Second line, "tabi no sora ni mo," means "even into the sky of the journey." It shares the same phrase "tabi no sora" with 345, two poems earlier.
Third line, "okureneba," means "since it does not fall behind," the perfective form with "ba" expressing a reason. Whereas 323, 324, and 335 of this book lamented being "left behind," here the poem sings of a moon that never falls behind.
Fourth line, "urayamashiki wa," means "what I envy is."
Final line, "aki no yo no tsuki," means "the moon of an autumn night," ending on a noun. Together with 319 and 340 of this book, the moon is sung of as a scene of parting and travel.
Author: Taira no Kanemori
Source: Shui Wakashu
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