Namida o mo shinoburu koro no waga sode ni ayanaku tsuki no yadorinuru kana - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

涙をも忍ぶる頃の我が袖に
あやなく月の宿りぬるかな

Roma-ji: Namida o mo shinoburu koro no waga sode ni ayanaku tsuki no yadorinuru kana
English Translation: Hiding even tears
in these days of secret love,
upon my sleeve
without a reason in the world
the moon has come to lodge
Meaning: In these days when I hide even my tears, the moon has come to lodge upon my sleeve, without a reason in the world.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 824

Headnote: "On the topic 'Love before the moon'"
Composed on the topic "love before the moon." On my sleeve in these days when I hide even my tears, he says, the moon has lodged for no reason. Though he hides his tears from others' eyes, the moonlight reflected in the tears that wet his sleeve only shows that the tears are there, a conceit conveying a hidden love that cannot be concealed.
The author is anonymous, and the name has not come down.
Following the dew on the grass pillow of the preceding poem, this one sings of the moon lodged in the tears on a sleeve, so that poems of love whose tears, though hidden, are revealed by dew or moonlight stand side by side.

First line, "namida o mo": "mo" means "even my tears," not only my love.
Second line, "shinoburu koro no": "shinobu" is to hide from others' eyes, "in these days when I hide them."
Third line, "waga sode ni": "on my sleeve," wet with tears.
Fourth line, "ayanaku tsuki no": "ayanaku" means for no reason, unreasonably, carrying resentment that the moon lodges there though he hides his tears.
Fifth line, "yadorinuru kana": "yadoru" is for light to be reflected, "nuru" the attributive of the perfective "nu," and "kana" exclamatory, "has come to lodge there!"
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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