Shimo sayuru niwa no ko no ha o fumiwakete tsuki wa miru ya to tou hito mo gana - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

霜冴ゆる庭の木の葉を踏み分けて
月は見るやと訪ふ人もがな

Roma-ji: Shimo sayuru niwa no ko no ha o fumiwakete tsuki wa miru ya to tou hito mo gana
English Translation: Through the fallen leaves
in the garden white with frost
chill beneath the moon,
would that someone made their way
to ask, "Are you viewing the moon?"
Meaning: I wish someone would come, treading through the fallen leaves in my frost-chilled garden, to ask whether I am gazing at the moon.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1009

Headnote: "Composed on the theme "The moon on a cold night""
This poem was composed on the theme "the moon on a cold night." Would that someone came, treading through the leaves in the frost-cold garden, to ask if I am viewing the moon, he says. On a cold winter night, in a lonely dwelling where frost and fallen leaves lie untrodden in the garden, he longs for a visitor who shares his love of the same moon.
The author, "Priest En'i," is Saigyō. His lay name was Satō Norikiyo; he served as a guard of the north quarters under Retired Emperor Toba but took vows at twenty-three. He traveled the provinces composing many poems, and his personal collection is the Sankashū. A poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
It shares the fifth line, "tou hito mo gana," with the preceding poem, 1008. Where the preceding poem wishes for a visitor after the moon has set, this one wishes for someone who comes while the moon still shines to ask if one is viewing it.

First line, "shimo sayuru": "where the frost lies cold and clear."
Second line, "niwa no ko no ha o": "the fallen leaves piled in the garden," showing that no one comes to visit.
Third line, "fumiwakete": "treading through the leaves," picturing the visitor.
Fourth line, "tsuki wa miru ya to": "ya" is an interrogative particle, "asking whether I view the moon."
Fifth line, "tou hito mo gana": "mo gana" is a particle of wish, "would that someone came to call." It is the same line as the fifth line of the preceding poem, 1008.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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