秋の夜の月かも君は雲隠れ
しばしも見ねばここら恋しき
しばしも見ねばここら恋しき
- Roma-ji
-
Aki no yo no tsuki kamo kimi wa kumogakure shibashi mo mineba kokora koishiki
- English Translation
-
Are you the bright moon
of an autumn night, my love,
hidden in the clouds?
Not seeing you even briefly,
how much I long for you so.
- Meaning
- Are you the moon of an autumn night? When you hide behind the clouds and I do not see you even for a moment, how much I long for you.
- Commentary
-
Book Thirteen Love Poems III 785
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem asks whether the beloved is the moon of an autumn night, for not seeing them for even a little while, hidden as by clouds, brings so much longing. Likening the lover to the beautiful moon of an autumn night, it sings of a longing that swells after even a moment without seeing them.
The author, "Hitomaro," is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, a court poet of the Asuka period revered as the sage of poetry and the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū, and one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. Many Man'yōshū poems are included in the Shūishū under Hitomaro's name.
A similar poem is included in Book Ten of the Man'yōshū.
First line, "aki no yo no," means "of an autumn night." It is the same line as the first line of the next poem, 786.
Second line, "tsuki kamo kimi wa," means "are you the moon," with "kamo" interrogative, likening the beloved to the moon through inversion.
Third line, "kumogakure," means "hidden in the clouds." It is the same as the third lines of 783 and 784, the third poem on the moon hidden by clouds.
Fourth line, "shibashi mo mineba," means "when I do not see you for even a moment."
Final line, "kokora koishiki," means "I long so much," with "kokora" meaning very much.
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Au koto wa katawarezuki no kumogakure oboroke ni ya wa hito no koishiki
- Next Poem
-
Aki no yo no tsuki miru to nomi okiitsutsu koyoi mo nede ya ware wa kaeran