Tsuki matsu to hito ni wa iite nagamureba nagusamegataki yūgure no sora - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

月待つと人には言ひてながむれば
慰めがたき夕暮の空

Roma-ji: Tsuki matsu to hito ni wa iite nagamureba nagusamegataki yūgure no sora
English Translation: Waiting for the moon,
so I say to the others,
and gaze out lost in thought—
offering no comfort at all,
the sky as evening falls
Meaning: Telling others I am only waiting for the moon, I gaze out lost in thought, and find no comfort in the sky at dusk.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 873

Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'secret love' when the courtiers presented hundred-poem sequences in the reign of Emperor Nijō"
This poem was composed on the topic "secret love" when the courtiers presented hundred-poem sequences in the reign of Emperor Nijō. Telling others I wait for the moon, he says, I gaze out, and it is a sky at dusk that offers no comfort. Because his love must be hidden, he disguises his reason for gazing at the evening sky by saying he is waiting for the moon to rise, while in truth he is lost in thoughts of his beloved. It is a poem that skillfully expresses the topic of "secret love" through the false words he gives to others.
The author, "Minister of Justice Norikane," was Fujiwara no Norikane. The son of Fujiwara no Yoshikane, he served as Minister of Justice. He excelled in the study of poetry and wrote works such as Waka Dōmōshō.
Poem 844 in this book ends with "aki no yūgure," 884 with "akekure no sora," and 898 with "kure no sora zo mataruru," so that poems singing of the evening sky as the hour of love are placed through the book.

First line, "tsuki matsu to": "saying I wait for the moon to rise," the excuse that deceives others.
Second line, "hito ni wa iite": "wa" is a particle that singles out, "to others I say so." It hints that his true heart lies elsewhere.
Third line, "nagamureba": "nagamu" means to gaze absently while lost in thought, and "ba" gives a fixed condition, "as I gaze."
Fourth line, "nagusamegataki": "hard to comfort."
Fifth line, "yūgure no sora": the poem ends on a noun, closing with the evening sky when longing deepens. Like "akekure no sora" in the last line of 884 in this book, it ends on "sora," "sky," and it also echoes "kure no sora" in 898.
Author: Fujiwara no Norikane
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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