Sayochidori Fukei no ura ni otozurete Eshima ga iso ni tsuki katabukinu - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

さ夜千鳥ふけひの浦におとづれて
絵島が磯に月傾きぬ

Roma-ji: Sayochidori Fukei no ura ni otozurete Eshima ga iso ni tsuki katabukinu
English Translation: Plovers of the night
call along the Fukei shore
as the hours grow late,
and on the rocks of Eshima
the moon has sunk aslant
Meaning: The plovers of the night call out along the shore of Fukei as the night grows late, and over the rocky shore of Eshima the moon has begun to sink.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 990

Headnote: "Composed when I wrote ten poems on the moon"
This poem was composed when he wrote ten poems on the moon. The plovers of the night call at the shore of Fukei, and the moon has sunk toward the rocks of Eshima, he says. Knowing the lateness of the hour by the plovers' cry, he finds the moon already sinking westward over the rocky shore; it is a night scene by the sea that captures the passing of time in sound and light.
The author, "Fujiwara no Iemoto," was a poet of the late Heian period whose biography is not known in detail.
It shares "Eshima" with the preceding poem, 989. Where the preceding poem sings of clear, cold moonlight, this one sings of the moon sinking late at night, expressing the passing of time on a moonlit night. From this poem through 994, poems by those who composed ten moon poems on the same occasion follow.

First line, "sayochidori": a plover crying at night, with "sa" as a prefix.
Second line, "Fukei no ura ni": "Fukei" is a pivot word meaning both the bay of Fukei, a famous place in Izumi Province, and the night growing late.
Third line, "otozurete": "making a sound, letting their cry ring out."
Fourth line, "Eshima ga iso ni": the rocky shore of Eshima off Awaji, answering "Eshima ga saki ni" in the fourth line of the preceding poem, 989.
Fifth line, "tsuki katabukinu": "nu" is the perfective auxiliary, "the moon has sunk aslant."
Author: Fujiwara no Iemoto
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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