Kuma mo naki tsuki no omote ni tobu kari no kage o kumo ka to magaetsuru kana

くまもなき月の面に飛ぶ雁の
影を雲かとまがへつるかな

Roma-ji: Kuma mo naki tsuki no omote ni tobu kari no kage o kumo ka to magaetsuru kana
English Translation: Over the moon's face,
flawless without a shadow,
flying wild geese pass,
and their shapes I took for clouds,
so mistaken did I see.
Meaning: I mistook for clouds the shapes of the wild geese flying across the face of the flawless moon.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 366

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When I composed many poems on the moon"
This is the thirtieth poem in the moon series. Across the face of the moon, clear without the least shadow, wild geese fly past, and the poet mistook their shapes for clouds. The poem catches the start of a heart so wary of clouds that it is alarmed even by the shapes of geese.
Wild geese crossing the moon are a classic pairing of autumn images, and here, placed in a series that has worried constantly about clouds, they appear as shapes mistaken for clouds. The opening kuma mo naki is also used in 327 and 375.

First line, “kuma mo naki”: kuma is a clouded or shadowed place, with not the least cloud.
Second line, “tsuki no omote ni”: across the face of the moon.
Third line, “tobu kari no”: of the geese flying across the moon's face.
Fourth line, “kage o kumo ka to”: kage is shape, taking the shapes of the geese for clouds.
Fifth line, “magaetsuru kana”: magau is to mistake, tsuru the attributive of the perfective tsu, and kana an exclamation.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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