Hitori nuru yado ni wa tsuki no miezaraba koishiki koto no kazu wa masaraji - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

独り寝る宿には月の見えざらば
恋しき事の数はまさらじ

Roma-ji: Hitori nuru yado ni wa tsuki no miezaraba koishiki koto no kazu wa masaraji
English Translation: If at my house where
I sleep alone, the moon's light
could not be seen, then
the many things I long for
would surely not increase so.
Meaning: If the moon could not be seen at the house where I sleep alone, the things that make me long for you would not grow in number.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 794

Headnote: "A poem composed in response to the Man'yōshū"
The poem says that if the moon could not be seen from the house where one sleeps alone, the things to long for would not multiply. It laments that the beautiful moonlight recalls the beloved and only heightens the loneliness of sleeping alone. The headnote shows it was composed in response to a poem of the Man'yōshū.
The author, "Shitagō," is Minamoto no Shitagō, of the Saga Genji, one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber who compiled the Gosenshū and worked on reading the Man'yōshū, and compiler of the dictionary Wamyō Ruijushō. He is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "hitori nuru," means "sleeping alone." Taking up the sleeping alone of 777 and 778, it sings one of the book's themes among the moon poems.
Second line, "yado ni wa tsuki no," means "the moon at my house."
Third line, "miezaraba," means "if it could not be seen," with "zara" the irrealis form of the negative "zu" and "ba" a supposition.
Fourth line, "koishiki koto no," means "of the things I long for."
Final line, "kazu wa masaraji," means "their number would not grow," with "ji" a negative conjecture. Where the preceding poem, 793, wishes to be seen as the moon is, this poem resents the moon's being seen, so that the feelings toward the moon form a pair.
Author: Minamoto no Shitagō
Source: Shui Wakashu
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