Yo ni furu ni mono omou to shimo nakeredomo tsuki ni ikutabi nagame shitsuran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

世に経るに物思ふとしもなけれども
月に幾度眺めしつらん

Roma-ji: Yo ni furu ni mono omou to shimo nakeredomo tsuki ni ikutabi nagame shitsuran
English Translation: Living in this world,
though it is not that I have
any cares to brood on,
how many times have I gazed
at the moon, lost deep in thought?
Meaning: Though I have lived in this world without any particular cares to brood over, how many times have I gazed at the moon, lost in thought?
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 432

Headnote: "On seeing the moon"
The poet says that although he has no particular cares in his life, he has again and again found himself lost in thought while gazing at the moon. He conveys the strange way the heart sinks of itself before the moon, looking back over his own past. The headnote, "On seeing the moon," shows that the poem gives voice to a feeling that rose as he gazed at the moon.
This book is the first of the miscellaneous books, gathering poems that fit neither the seasons nor love. From this opening poem through 442, poems on the moon continue, and the next poem, 433, likewise says "though I have nothing on my mind" yet cannot sleep on a moonlit night, repeating the same conceit. The second line of this opening poem, "mono omou," answers the final line of 508 at the close of the book, "towamu to zo omou," through a word of thought.
The author, Prince Tomohira, Minister of Central Affairs, was the seventh son of Emperor Murakami, he served as Minister of Central Affairs and was called the Later Prince of the Central Affairs. He excelled at Chinese and Japanese poetry and was known for his deep learning.

First line, "yo ni furu ni," means "living in this world," with "furu" meaning to pass the years. Poems on a self passing through the world also appear in 463, 495 and 504 of this book, making it a recurring theme.
Second line, "mono omou to shimo," means "not that I brood," with "shimo" an emphatic particle. It repeats the words of brooding found in the first line of the next poem, "omou koto," and the second line of 434, "mono omou koto no."
Third line, "nakeredomo," means "though there is none," leading into the lower verse with the concessive "domo."
Fourth line, "tsuki ni ikutabi," means "how many times at the moon," stressing how often he has gazed.
Final line, "nagame shitsuran," means "have I gazed lost in thought," with the perfective auxiliary "tsu" and "ran" an auxiliary of present conjecture, carrying a sigh as he looks back on the days gone by.
Author: Prince Tomohira
Source: Shui Wakashu
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