九重の内だに明かき月影に
荒れたる宿を思ひこそやれ
荒れたる宿を思ひこそやれ
- Roma-ji
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Kokonoe no uchi dani akaki tsukikage ni aretaru yado o omoi koso yare
- English Translation
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Within the ninefold walls,
even here the moonlight shines
with such brilliant light;
to my dwelling gone to ruin
how my thoughts go out to it.
- Meaning
- Even within the ninefold walls of the palace the moonlight is so bright; how my thoughts go out to my ruined home and how it must be lit.
- Commentary
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Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Autumn Poems 1105
Headnote: "Composed on a moonlit night, when the empress was residing in the palace"
The poet says that since the moonlight is this bright even within the palace, he cannot help thinking of how brightly it must shine into his ruined home, where nothing blocks it. The headnote shows it was composed on a moonlit night when the empress was residing in the palace. While gazing at the bright moon in the palace, his heart goes out to his ruined home far away.
The author, written as "Yoshishige no Tamemasa, with variant characters for the surname," is Yoshishige no Tamemasa, of a family that changed its surname from Kamo to Yoshishige, a scholar of Chinese learning who served as Professor of Letters.
First line, "kokonoe no," means "of the palace," the palace being called ninefold after its ninefold gates. It stands beside "momoshiki no ōmiya" in the next poem, 1106, in viewing the moon within the palace.
Second line, "uchi dani akaki," means "bright even within the palace," with "dani" a particle that names a lesser case to suggest a greater one.
Third line, "tsukikage ni," means "in the moonlight."
Fourth line, "aretaru yado o," means "my ruined home."
Final line, "omoi koso yare," means "how my thoughts go out to it," with the binding particle "koso" resolved by the perfective form "yare."
- Author
- Yoshishige no Tamemasa
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Kaerinishi kari zo naku naru mube hito wa ukiyo no naka o somukikanuran
- Next Poem
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Momoshiki no ōmiya nagara yasoshima o miru kokochi suru aki no yo no tsuki