Harimagata Suma no tsukiyome sora saete Eshima ga saki ni yuki furinikeri - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

播磨潟須磨の月夜め空冴えて
絵島が崎に雪降りにけり

Roma-ji: Harimagata Suma no tsukiyome sora saete Eshima ga saki ni yuki furinikeri
English Translation: Off Harima's shore,
seen on a Suma moonlit night,
the sky crisp and clear,
upon the cape of Eshima
snow has fallen white
Meaning: On a moonlit night at Suma off the Harima shore, the sky is frozen clear, and on the cape of Eshima it looks as though snow has fallen.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 989

Headnote: "Composed as a poem on the moon when I presented a hundred-poem sequence"
This poem was composed as a moon poem when he presented a hundred-poem sequence. On the moonlit view at Suma off Harima the sky is frozen clear, and snow has fallen on the cape of Eshima, he says. He sees the cape of Eshima on Awaji, viewed across from the bay of Suma, lit white by the cold moon, as if snow had fallen. It is a grand scene of moonlight on the sea, linking famous places one after another.
The author, "Chikataka, Former Consultant," is Fujiwara no Chikataka. A son of Fujiwara no Tamefusa, he rose to consultant.
The next poem, 990, also sings of "the shore of Eshima," so two poems of the moon lighting Eshima stand together. Where this poem sees the moon on the cape of Eshima as snow, the next sings of the moon sinking toward Eshima's rocky shore.

First line, "Harimagata": the sea of Harima Province, the waters off the bay of Suma.
Second line, "Suma no tsukiyome": "tsukiyome" is understood to mean the view seen on a moonlit night. Suma is a famous place renowned for the moon.
Third line, "sora saete": "the sky cold and clear."
Fourth line, "Eshima ga saki ni": the cape of Eshima at the northern tip of Awaji Island, a famous place viewed across the sea from Suma. It answers "Eshima ga iso ni" in the fourth line of the next poem, 990.
Fifth line, "yuki furinikeri": "snow has fallen," seeing the white moonlight as snow. "Keri" expresses exclamation at a realization.
Author: Fujiwara no Chikataka
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Sumiwabite mi o kakusu beki yamazato ni amari kuma naki yowa no tsuki kana
Next Poem: Sayochidori Fukei no ura ni otozurete Eshima ga iso ni tsuki katabukinu