Tsuki no sumu sora ni wa kumo mo nakarikeri utsurishi mizu wa kōri hedatete - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

月の澄む空には雲もなかりけり
映りし水は氷隔てて

Roma-ji: Tsuki no sumu sora ni wa kumo mo nakarikeri utsurishi mizu wa kōri hedatete
English Translation: In the sky above
where the moon shines clear there are
no clouds at all:
only the water where it shone
is veiled from it by ice
Meaning: There are no clouds at all in the sky where the moon shines clear; it is only the water where the moon was reflected that is screened from it by ice.
Commentary: Book Six Winter Poems 441

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed as a poem on ice"
Composed as a poem on ice. There are no clouds at all in the sky where the moon shines clear, the poet says; it is only the water where it was reflected that is screened from it by ice. The conceit is that, wondering whether clouds kept the moon from showing in the water, he looked up to find none, and realized that the ice on the surface was shutting out the moonlight.
The author, "Dōin Hōshi," is Fujiwara no Atsuyori, son of Fujiwara no Kiyotaka, who took holy orders late in life. He was known for his deep devotion to poetry, and a poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
The three poems from 439 to 441 are poems on ice placed under the same headnote. From 439 to this poem the group sings of the relation between frozen water and the moon, and this poem brings it to a close.

First line, "tsuki no sumu": "sumu" is for the moon to shine without a cloud.
Second line, "sora ni wa kumo mo": "in the sky, not even the clouds" that might hide the moon.
Third line, "nakarikeri": "keri" expresses realization, "there were no clouds after all." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "utsurishi mizu wa": "shi," the attributive of the past "ki," "the water where the moon was once reflected," restating the "yadorishi mizu mo" of 439 of this book.
Fifth line, "kōri hedatete": "the ice screening it off," ending that the ice, not clouds, hides the moon, and breaking off to leave a lingering resonance.
Author: Dōin
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Fuyu kureba yukute ni hito wa kumanedomo kōri zo musubu yama no i no mizu
Next Poem: Tsurara ite migakeru kage no miyuru kana makoto ni ima ya Tamagawa no mizu