Hisakata no amatsu sora naru tsuki naredo izure no mizu ni kage yadoru ran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

久方の天つ空なる月なれど
いづれの水に影宿るらん

Roma-ji: Hisakata no amatsu sora naru tsuki naredo izure no mizu ni kage yadoru ran
English Translation: Though it is the moon
that dwells in the far-off sky,
heaven's distant height,
in which waters, I wonder,
does it lodge its shining form?
Meaning: Though the moon dwells in the distant sky of heaven, in which waters, I wonder, does it lodge its reflection?
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 440

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "For a painting on a screen"
The poet wonders in which waters the moon lodges its reflection, though it dwells in the sky of heaven. Like the preceding poem, it was written for a painting on a screen, and seeing a picture of the moon on the water, he expresses the wonder that the single moon in the sky is reflected in every water. From here the poems turn to the moon in the water, leading on to the moon lodged in the water and the moon sunk in the water of 441 and 442 in this book.
The author, written as Mitsune, is Ōshikōchi no Mitsune. One of the compilers of the Kokinshū, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "hisakata no," is a pillow word introducing heaven. "Hisakata no" is also used in the third line of 433 in this book.
Second line, "amatsu sora naru," means "that is in the sky of heaven," with "naru" the attributive form of "nari" expressing existence.
Third line, "tsuki naredo," means "though it is the moon," contrasting the moon in the sky with the moon in the water through a concessive.
Fourth line, "izure no mizu ni," means "in which waters."
Final line, "kage yadoru ran," means "does it lodge its reflection," with "ran" an auxiliary of present conjecture. The image of the moon lodging in water is taken up in the first line of the next poem, "the moon lodged in the depths."
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Shui Wakashu
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