Kumoi nite ai kataranu tsuki dani mo waga yado sugite yuku toki wa nashi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

雲居にてあひ語らはぬ月だにも
我が宿過ぎて行く時はなし

Roma-ji: Kumoi nite ai kataranu tsuki dani mo waga yado sugite yuku toki wa nashi
English Translation: Even the moon,
which in the far cloudy sky
never talks with me,
never once goes passing by
this house of mine without a call.
Meaning: Even the moon, high in the clouds and never speaking with me, never once passes by my house without stopping.
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 437

Headnote: "When the wife of the Consultant Harukami, passing before my gate on a moonlit night, sent in a message"
Saying that even the moon, distant in the sky and never speaking with her, never passes her house by, the poet reproaches someone who went past without stopping. The headnote shows it was a reply when the wife of the Consultant Harukami, passing her gate on a moonlit night, only sent in a message. Citing how the moonlight always shines into her house, she conveys her loneliness at not being visited as a light reproach. Against the moon that is waited for in the preceding poem, this one sings of a moon that comes calling of its own accord.
The author, Ise, was a woman poet of the early to mid Heian period and a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugikage. She served Onshi, empress of Emperor Uda, and became the mother of Nakatsukasa. She is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "kumoi nite," means "there in the distant sky." The second line of 470 in this book, "hodo wa kumoi ni," also uses "kumoi" for a place far removed.
Second line, "ai kataranu," means "that never talks intimately with me."
Third line, "tsuki dani mo," means "even the moon," with "dani" a particle naming the lesser to imply the greater.
Fourth line, "waga yado sugite," means "passing by my house."
Final line, "yuku toki wa nashi," means "there is no time it goes," with an unspoken reproach that even the moon stops by.
Author: Ise
Source: Shui Wakashu
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