Omoikuma nakute mo toshi no henuru kana mono iikawase aki no yo no tsuki - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

思ひくまなくても年の経ぬるかな
物言ひ交はせ秋の夜の月

Roma-ji: Omoikuma nakute mo toshi no henuru kana mono iikawase aki no yo no tsuki
English Translation: With none who cares for me
without a shadow of thought,
so the years have passed:
O speak with me, exchange some words,
moon of the autumn night
Meaning: The years have gone by with no one to care for me. At least you, moon of the autumn night, speak with me and share some words.
Commentary: Book Four Autumn Poems I 286

Headnote: "Composed when the Hosshōji Lay Priest and Former Chancellor, while Palace Minister, had poems composed on the topic 'The Moon Is a Friend Every Autumn'"
Composed when Fujiwara no Tadamichi, later the Hosshōji Lay Priest and Former Chancellor, was still Palace Minister and had poems composed on the topic "The Moon Is a Friend Every Autumn." The poet has grown old with no one to care for him, and he calls on the moon of the autumn night, which he has met as a friend every autumn, at least to share some words with him. Taking up the topic's "friend," he voices the lament of a lonely old age as an appeal to the moon.
The author, "Minamoto no Toshiyori Ason," was the son of Major Counselor Minamoto no Tsunenobu. The central poet of Emperor Horikawa's poetry circle, he compiled the Kin'yō Wakashū at the command of Retired Emperor Shirakawa and wrote the treatise Toshiyori Zuinō. A poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Its last line, "aki no yo no tsuki," is the same as that of 282 and 292 of this book.

First line, "omoikuma": the "kuma" of "omoikuma," consideration for others, carries the echo of "kuma," the shadows that cloud the moon.
Second line, "nakute mo toshi no": "with no one to care for me," also echoing the phrase "kuma nashi," cloudless, said of the moon.
Third line, "henuru kana": "nuru" is the attributive of the perfective "nu" and "kana" exclamatory, lamenting the years gone by. The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "mono iikawase": "iikawase" is imperative, "exchange words with me," calling to the moon as a friend.
Fifth line, "aki no yo no tsuki": ends on a noun, naming the one addressed. It is the same final line as 282 and 292 of this book.
Author: Minamoto no Toshiyori
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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