Nani to naku nagamuru sode no kawakanu wa tsuki no katsura no tsuyu ya okuran - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

何となくながむる袖の乾かぬは
月の桂の露や置くらん

Roma-ji: Nani to naku nagamuru sode no kawakanu wa tsuki no katsura no tsuyu ya okuran
English Translation: If the sleeves with which
I gaze for no reason at all
will never dry,
is it the dew that settles
from the laurel of the moon?
Meaning: If the sleeves with which I gaze at the moon for no particular reason never dry, could it be that dew falls on them from the laurel tree said to grow on the moon?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1013

Headnote: "Composed as a poem on the moon at the later round of the Kamo Shrine poetry contest"
This poem was composed as a moon poem at the later round of a poetry contest held at the Kamo Shrine. Could it be that dew from the moon's laurel falls on the sleeves that will not dry as I gaze for no reason, he asks. He gives artful form to the tears that fall unbidden when gazing at the moon, using the legend of the laurel tree on the moon to suggest that the dew drips from it.
The author, "Fujiwara no Chikamori," was a poet of the late Heian period.
It shares with "sono koto to naku namida ochikeri" in 994 of this book the tears that flow without reason when viewing the moon, and here those tears are seen as dew from the moon's laurel.

First line, "nani to naku": "for no particular reason." It answers "sono koto to naku" in the fourth line of 994 of this book.
Second line, "nagamuru sode no": "nagamu" means to gaze lost in thought, "of the sleeves of me who gaze at the moon."
Third line, "kawakanu wa": "that they do not dry," expressing sleeves wet with tears.
Fourth line, "tsuki no katsura no": "of the laurel tree that legend says grows on the moon."
Fifth line, "tsuyu ya okuran": "ya" is an interrogative binding particle and "ran" conjectures a cause, "could it be that dew settles?" The dew stands for tears.
Author: Fujiwara no Chikamori
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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