Teru tsuki mo kage minasoko ni utsurikeri nitaru mono naki koi mo suru kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

照る月も影水底に映りけり
似たる物なき恋もするかな

Roma-ji: Teru tsuki mo kage minasoko ni utsurikeri nitaru mono naki koi mo suru kana
English Translation: Even the moon shining
casts its image on the floor
of the water there;
yet with nothing like to it
is the love I bear for you.
Meaning: Even the shining moon has its likeness reflected on the floor of the water, yet the love I feel has nothing in the world to compare with it.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 791

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that even the moon shining in the sky has its likeness, its reflection cast on the water's floor, yet one's own love has nothing to which it can be compared. Taking the moon and its image in the water as a pair of likenesses, it asserts the depth of a love without equal.
The author, "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki, the central compiler of the Kokinshū, author of its Kana Preface, and writer of the Tosa Diary. He is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "teru tsuki mo," means "even the shining moon." Like "ama teru tsuki mo" in 789, it sings of a shining moon, but where that one sinks from sight, this one is reflected in the water.
Second line, "kage minasoko ni," means "its image on the water's floor," with "kage" the form of the moon.
Third line, "utsurikeri," means "is reflected there," with a caesura here and "keri" expressing realization.
Fourth line, "nitaru mono naki," means "with nothing like it," contrasting with the moon that has its likeness in the water.
Final line, "koi mo suru kana," means "such a love I feel," with "kana" exclamatory.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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