ながめやる心の果てぞなかりける
あかしの沖に澄める月影
あかしの沖に澄める月影
- Roma-ji
-
Nagameyaru kokoro no hate zo nakarikeru Akashi no oki ni sumeru tsukikage
- English Translation
-
Gazing far away,
there is no end at all
to where my heart goes:
off the bright shore of Akashi
the moonlight shines so clear
- Meaning
- As I gaze far out, my heart reaches on without end toward the moonlight shining clear and bright off the shore of Akashi.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Autumn Poems I 291
Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'The Moon by the Sea'"
Composed on the topic "The Moon by the Sea." As the poet gazes at the moonlight shining bright and clear off the shore of Akashi, his heart spreads out without end. Layering the sense of brightness onto the place name Akashi, he overlays the moonlight spreading endlessly over the sea with the endlessness of the heart that follows it.
The author, "Priest Shun'e," is Shun'e, son of Minamoto no Toshiyori, who became a monk of Tōdaiji. He named his cell at Shirakawa in the capital the Karin'en, gathering many poets there, and is also known as the teacher of Kamo no Chōmei. A poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Its last line, "sumeru tsukikage," is the same as in 284 and 285 of this book, continuing the poems on the moon shining clear over water.
First line, "nagameyaru": "gazing far away."
Second line, "kokoro no hate zo": "zo" links with "keru" in the third line.
Third line, "nakarikeru": "there is no end," closing the construction with "zo." The poem pauses here and is inverted with the lines that follow.
Fourth line, "Akashi no oki ni": "akashi" is a pivot word for the poetic place Akashi in Harima and "akashi," bright, layering the moon's brightness onto the place name.
Fifth line, "sumeru tsukikage": ends on a noun, the same final line as 284 and 285 of this book.
- Author
- Shun'e
- Source
- Senzai Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Tsune yori mo mi ni zo shimikeru aki no no ni tsuki sumu yowa no ogi no uwakaze
- Next Poem
-
Yaoka yuku hama no masago o shikikaete tama ni nashitsuru aki no yo no tsuki