Machiidete kuma naki yoi no tsuki mireba kumo zo kokoro ni mazu kakarikeru

待ち出でてくまなき宵の月見れば
雲ぞ心にまづかかりける

Roma-ji: Machiidete kuma naki yoi no tsuki mireba kumo zo kokoro ni mazu kakarikeru
English Translation: Waited for so long,
when I see the cloudless moon
of the evening sky,
first of all, clouds hang across
my heart before they cross the moon.
Meaning: When I look at the flawless evening moon I waited so long to see rise, the clouds are the first thing to hang over my heart.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 338

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When I composed many poems on the moon"
This is the second poem in the moon series. Looking at the cloudless evening moon that has at last come out after long waiting, the poet worries first of all, before he can rejoice in its beauty, about when clouds will come and hide it. It portrays a heart whose love for the moon is so great that anxiety rises even before joy.
Kakaru plays on clouds hanging over the moon and on something hanging on the heart. The dislike of clouds that hide the moon, repeated in 307 and 310, appears here as a heart that frets about clouds even before the moon is hidden.

First line, “machiidete”: having waited, and the moon at last come out.
Second line, “kuma naki yoi no”: kuma is a clouded or shadowed place, of the cloudless evening.
Third line, “tsuki mireba”: when I see the moon, the perfective form with ba.
Fourth line, “kumo zo kokoro ni”: zo strongly singles out the clouds, forming a kakari-musubi with keru in the last line.
Fifth line, “mazu kakarikeru”: kakari is a pivot word joining clouds hanging over the moon and worry hanging on the heart, first of all the clouds weigh on me; the attributive answers zo.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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