Kumo mayoi hoshi no ayuku to mietsuru wa hotaru no sora ni tobu ni zo arikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

雲まよひほしのあゆくと見えつるは
蛍の空に飛ぶにぞありける

Roma-ji: Kumo mayoi hoshi no ayuku to mietsuru wa hotaru no sora ni tobu ni zo arikeru
English Translation: What seemed to me
the stars wandering astray
among the clouds—
it was only fireflies
flitting through the summer sky.
Meaning: What looked like stars moving as they wandered among the clouds was, in fact, fireflies flying through the sky.
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 409

Headnote: "Hiboshi no ayu (fire-dried sweetfish)"
The poet says that what looked like stars moving as they wandered among the clouds was in fact fireflies flying through the sky. Likening the glow of fireflies on a summer night to stars, the poem hides the name "hiboshi no ayu" given in the headnote in the run of sounds "hi hoshi no ayu" from the first to the second line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
The author, written as Sukemi, is Fujiwara no Sukemi. A son of Fujiwara no Hirotsune, he was a mid-Heian poet known as Tōroku. He excelled at poems hiding the names of things, and his personal collection is the Tōrokushū.

First line, "kumo mayoi," means "wandering among the clouds." Its final "hi" with "hoshi no ayu" in the second line hides the name "hiboshi no ayu."
Second line, "hoshi no ayuku to," means "that the stars were moving." After the names of foods in the preceding poems, the sweetfish is sung of. The next poem, 410, also hides the sweetfish.
Third line, "mietsuru wa," means "what appeared."
Fourth line, "hotaru no sora ni," means "fireflies in the sky," likening their glow to stars.
Final line, "tobu ni zo arikeru," means "were flying," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "keru."
Author: Fujiwara no Sukemi
Source: Shui Wakashu
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