Isayowade izuru wa tsuki no ureshikute iru yama no ha wa tsuraki narikeri

いさよはで出づるは月のうれしくて
入る山の端はつらきなりけり

Roma-ji: Isayowade izuru wa tsuki no ureshikute iru yama no ha wa tsuraki narikeri
English Translation: Never lingering,
the moon comes forth, to my joy,
coming as it does;
yet the rim of the mountains
where it sets is cruel to me.
Meaning: How glad I am when the moon comes out without lingering, and how cruel is the mountain rim behind which it sets.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 312

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The moon"
This poem continues the topic of the moon. The moon that comes out promptly without hesitation is a joy, but the mountain rim behind which it sets is cruel. Setting the moonrise against the moonset, the poet expresses his attachment to the moon as resentment of the mountain rim.
Following the preceding poem, in which the poet rows out to sea to see the moon free of the mountains, this one resents the mountain rim itself for hiding the moon. Izuru in the upper verse and iru in the lower, ureshiku and tsuraki, each form a pair.

First line, “isayowade”: isayou means to hesitate or linger, and with the negative de, without lingering; it draws on the idea that the moon of the night after full moon hesitates to rise.
Second line, “izuru wa tsuki no”: the moon as it comes out, paired with iru in the fourth line.
Third line, “ureshikute”: glad, set against tsuraki in the following lines.
Fourth line, “iru yama no ha wa”: the ridge of the mountains behind which the moon sets.
Fifth line, “tsuraki narikeri”: tsurashi means cruel or heartless, and narikeri expresses realization.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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