Yadoshi motsu tsuki no hikari no ooshisa wa ika ni iedomo Hirosawa no ike

宿しもつ月の光のををしさは
いかにいへども広沢の池

Roma-ji: Yadoshi motsu tsuki no hikari no ooshisa wa ika ni iedomo Hirosawa no ike
English Translation: The moonlight it holds
lodged upon its surface wide,
in its noble strength,
whatever one says of it,
is the pond of Hirosawa.
Meaning: The noble grandeur of the moonlight that the pond holds upon its waters is, whatever one may say, worthy of Hirosawa Pond.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 321

Headnote: "Composed on the same topic when people wrote poems at Henjōji"
The headnote tells us this poem was written at Henjōji, where people composed on the same topic as the preceding poem, the moon over a pond. Henjōji stood beside Hirosawa Pond in Saga, a famous place for the moon. The noble grandeur of the moonlight the pond holds on its waters is, whatever one may say, worthy of Hirosawa Pond. The poem praises the great scene of the moon reflected on the broad pond.
Where the preceding poem dwelt on the clearness of a pond, this one praises the breadth of Hirosawa Pond and the grandeur of the moon on its waters. The character hiro, broad, in the name Hirosawa calls up the size of the pond.

First line, “yadoshi motsu”: holding the moonlight reflected on its surface, with the pond personified as the subject.
Second line, “tsuki no hikari no”: of the moonlight reflected in the pond.
Third line, “ooshisa wa”: its manliness, its noble bearing, the strength of the moonlight on the broad pond.
Fourth line, “ika ni iedomo”: however one may put it, set there to praise strongly the pond named in the last line.
Fifth line, “Hirosawa no ike”: ending on a noun, the pond at Saga, west of the capital, famous for the moon.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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