Onozukara tsuki yadorubeki hima mo naku ike ni hachisu no hana sakinikeri

おのづから月宿るべき隙もなく
池に蓮の花咲きにけり

Roma-ji: Onozukara tsuki yadorubeki hima mo naku ike ni hachisu no hana sakinikeri
English Translation: Of its own accord
the moon would lodge there, but no
space is left at all,
for upon the pond the lotus
flowers have bloomed everywhere.
Meaning: Lotus flowers have bloomed across the pond so thickly that there is no space left where the moon might lodge of its own accord.
Commentary: Summer Poems 248

Headnote: "On the topic of lotuses filling a pond"
The headnote shows that the poem was composed on the topic of lotuses filling a pond. The lotus flowers have bloomed so thickly over the pond that there is not even a gap where the moon might be reflected. The abundance of the lotus covering the pond is expressed as the moon having nowhere to lodge.
Where the preceding poem said the moonlight made the pond look frozen, this one says the same water is so covered with lotus that the moon cannot be reflected, pairing a pond filled with moonlight and one filled with lotus. The lotus is also the flower of the Pure Land, and the pond brimming with lotus has a touch of paradise about it.

First line, “onozukara”: naturally, of its own accord, modifying tsuki yadoru in the second line.
Second line, “tsuki yadorubeki”: yadoru is for the moon to be reflected and rest on the water.
Third line, “hima mo naku”: without any gap, showing the lotus covering the whole surface.
Fourth line, “ike ni hachisu no”: hachisu is an old name for the lotus.
Fifth line, “hana sakinikeri”: nikeri expresses realization, they have bloomed.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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