Natsu no yo no tsuki no hikari wa sashinagara ika ni akenuru ama no to naran - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夏の夜の月の光はさしながら
いかにあけぬる天の戸ならん

Roma-ji: Natsu no yo no tsuki no hikari wa sashinagara ika ni akenuru ama no to naran
English Translation: Though the summer night's
moon still shines with light
and bars the sky,
how is it that it has dawned,
the opening of heaven's door?
Meaning: The summer night's moon is still shining and heaven's door still barred; how is it, then, that night has dawned and that door been opened?
Commentary: Book Three Summer Poems 216

Headnote: "Composed on the summer moon"
Composed on the topic of "the summer moon." The moonlight of the summer night is still shining, so how has the night already dawned? Heaven's door is still barred, so how has it been opened? Pivoting on "sashi," both light "shining" and a door "barred," and on "ake," both night "dawning" and a door "opening," and linking them through heaven's door, the poem wittily expresses the brevity of a summer night that ends while the moon still remains.
The author, "Hafuribe no Sukune Narinaka," is Hafuribe no Narinaka, a priest who served as negi of the Hie Shrine. He lived to a great age and was a poet who took part in the Karin'en.

First line, "natsu no yo no": modifies "tsuki" in the second line. Poem 213 of this book also speaks of "the summer night's moon."
Second line, "tsuki no hikari wa": the subject of the poem.
Third line, "sashinagara": "sashi" is a pivot word for moonlight "shining" and a door being "barred." "Nagara" is concessive: "while still."
Fourth line, "ika ni akenuru": "ake" is a pivot word for night "dawning" and a door "opening," and "ika ni" asks how it has dawned.
Fifth line, "ama no to naran": "ama no to" is the door of heaven, thought to open at daybreak. "Sashi" and "ake" are associated words with "door." Following the dawn moon of the preceding poem, 215, it tells of a night that dawns while the moon remains.
Author: Hafuribe no Narinaka
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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