わづかなる庭の小草の白露を
求めて宿る秋の夜の月
求めて宿る秋の夜の月
- Roma-ji
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Wazuka naru niwa no kogusa no shiratsuyu o motomete yadoru aki no yo no tsuki
- English Translation
-
On the little grass
in a garden scant and small,
seeking out white dew,
there it comes to lodge itself,
the moon of an autumn night.
- Meaning
- Seeking out the white dew on the little grasses of my small garden, the autumn night's moon comes to lodge its light in each drop.
- Commentary
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Autumn Poems 304
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When people composed ten autumn poems each"
This is the ninth poem in the set of ten. The autumn moon that lights the wide sky seems to seek out the white dew on the little grasses of a small garden and lodges its light in every drop. Through the contrast of the great moon and the tiny dew, the poem paints the beauty of moonlight reflected in dew.
The closing aki no yo no tsuki is a line repeated in many of the moon poems that follow, as in 308, 309 and 314. The set of ten takes up the moon here and closes in the next poem with a lament for autumn itself.
First line, “wazuka naru”: slight, modest, stressing how small the garden's grasses are.
Second line, “niwa no kogusa no”: of the little grasses growing in the garden.
Third line, “shiratsuyu o”: the dew shining white, set there to hold the moonlight.
Fourth line, “motomete yadoru”: the moon itself seeks out the dew and lodges its light there, personifying the moon.
Fifth line, “aki no yo no tsuki”: ending on a noun, the great moon dwelling in the tiny dew.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
- Prev Poem
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Io ni moru tsuki no kage koso sabishikere yamada wa hita no oto bakari shite
- Next Poem
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Nani to kaku kokoro o sae wa tsukusuran waga nageki nite kururu aki ka wa