Shirazariki kumoi no yoso ni mishi tsuki no kage o tamoto ni yadosu beshi to wa - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

知らざりき雲居のよそに見し月の
影を袂に宿すべしとは

Roma-ji: Shirazariki kumoi no yoso ni mishi tsuki no kage o tamoto ni yadosu beshi to wa
English Translation: I never knew it—
that the moon I saw far off
beyond the clouds
would come to lodge its light
here within my sleeve
Meaning: I never knew that the moon I once saw far off beyond the clouds would come to lodge its light in my tear-soaked sleeve.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 875

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
I never knew, he says, that the moon I saw far beyond the clouds would come to lodge its light in my sleeve. The moonlight he once watched as something far above the clouds now lies reflected in his tear-soaked sleeve, and he expresses astonishment at finding himself weeping in love for someone once beyond his reach. Overlaying the moon with the image of the beloved, it entrusts the grief of love to the beautiful scene of the moon reflected in the tears of a sleeve.
The author, "En'i Hōshi," was Saigyō. His lay name was Satō Norikiyo; he served as a warrior of the north guard of Retired Emperor Toba but took the tonsure young and composed many poems as he traveled the provinces. A poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, "shirazariki": "zari" is the negative auxiliary and "ki" the past auxiliary, "I did not know." The poem pauses here and stands in inverted order with the lines that follow.
Second line, "kumoi no yoso ni": "kumoi" is the distant sky where the clouds are and is also a word for the palace. "Yoso" means a distant place unconnected with oneself.
Third line, "mishi tsuki no": "shi" is the attributive of the past "ki," "of the moon I once saw." The moon stands for the beloved.
Fourth line, "kage o tamoto ni": "kage" is the moonlight, overlaid with the image of the beloved. "Tamoto" shows the sleeve soaked with tears.
Fifth line, "yadosu beshi to wa": "yadosu" is to let the moonlight be reflected in tears, and "beshi" an auxiliary of what must be, of fate, "that I should come to lodge it." It closes by returning to "shirazariki" in the first line.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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