Mochizuki no koma yori osoku idetsureba tadoru tadoru zo yama wa koetsuru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

もち月の駒より遅く出でつれば
たどるたどるぞ山は越えつる

Roma-ji: Mochizuki no koma yori osoku idetsureba tadoru tadoru zo yama wa koetsuru
English Translation: Since I set out later
than the steeds from Mochizuki,
late as the full moon,
groping, groping on my way,
I have crossed over the mountain.
Meaning: Since I set out later than the horses of Mochizuki, late as the rising full moon, I have crossed the mountain groping my way step by step.
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 438

Headnote: "When I had gone to Kazan and a horse from the Horse Presentation was sent to me"
The poet says that because he set out later than the horses of Mochizuki, he crossed the mountain groping his way. The headnote shows it responds to a horse from the Horse Presentation being sent to him while he was at Kazan. Overlaying the famous horses of Mochizuki with the full moon that rises late, he playfully conveys the trouble of crossing a dark mountain road by feel. Among the moon poems, it works in a horse bearing the moon's name.
The author, the Monk Sosei, was a son of the Archbishop Henjō and an early Heian poet. He took the tonsure at his father's urging and lived at Urin'in. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "mochizuki no," means "of the Mochizuki pasture" in Shinano, the source of the fine horses presented at the Horse Presentation. It is also a pivot word meaning the full moon of the fifteenth night.
Second line, "koma yori osoku," means "later than the horses," echoing the image of a late-rising moon.
Third line, "idetsureba," means "since I set out," with "tsure" the perfective form of the perfective auxiliary "tsu" and "ba" expressing a reason.
Fourth line, "tadoru tadoru zo," means "groping, groping my way," the repeated word conveying the hardship of the mountain road, with "zo" an emphatic particle.
Final line, "yama wa koetsuru," means "I have crossed the mountain," resolving "zo" with the attributive "tsuru."
Author: Sosei Hoshi
Source: Shui Wakashu
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