Tsune yori mo terimasaru kana yama no ha no momiji o wakete izuru tsukikage - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

常よりも照りまさるかな山の端の
紅葉を分けて出づる月影

Roma-ji: Tsune yori mo terimasaru kana yama no ha no momiji o wakete izuru tsukikage
English Translation: Brighter than ever,
how it shines and glows tonight,
parting the maples
along the mountain's rim—
the light of the rising moon.
Meaning: How much brighter than usual it shines, the moonlight rising as it parts the autumn leaves along the mountain's rim.
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 439

Headnote: "For a painting on a screen"
The poet says that the moonlight rising through the autumn leaves at the mountain's rim seems brighter than ever. The headnote shows it was written for a painting on a screen. Through inversion he vividly portrays the beauty of moonlight glowing against the color of the leaves. Against the late-rising moon of the preceding poem, this one sings of a moon rising among autumn leaves, carrying on the charm of the moonrise.
The author, written as Tsurayuki, is Ki no Tsurayuki. The leading compiler of the Kokinshū, he wrote its kana preface and the Tosa Diary. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "tsune yori mo," means "more than usual."
Second line, "terimasaru kana," means "how much more it shines," with "kana" an exclamatory particle. The poem breaks here and is inverted with the lower verse.
Third line, "yama no ha no," means "of the mountain's rim."
Fourth line, "momiji o wakete," means "parting the autumn leaves," picturing the contrast of red leaves and moonlight.
Final line, "izuru tsukikage," means "the light of the rising moon," ending on a noun to leave a lingering resonance. Like "idetsureba" in the third line of the preceding poem, it sings of a moon coming forth.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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