Nakanaka ni kumoru to miete haruru yo no tsuki wa hikari no sou kokochi suru

なかなかに曇ると見えて晴るる夜の
月は光の添ふ心地する

Roma-ji: Nakanaka ni kumoru to miete haruru yo no tsuki wa hikari no sou kokochi suru
English Translation: Rather, as it is,
on a night that seems to cloud
and then clears again,
it feels as if the moon's light
has grown brighter than before.
Meaning: On the contrary, on a night that seems about to cloud over and then clears again, the moon feels as if its light has grown even brighter.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 370

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When I composed many poems on the moon"
This is the thirty-fourth poem in the moon series. Rather than a night that stays clear throughout, on a night that seems about to cloud and then clears, the moon feels as though its light has grown brighter. It catches the special brightness of a moon reappearing after being half hidden by cloud.
Opening with the same nakanaka ni as 361, which saw clouds as the moon's ornament, it too sings of clouds setting off the moonlight. Contrary to 368, which lamented the moon disturbed by clouds and wind, it rejoices in the moon's brightness after the clouds.

First line, “nakanaka ni”: on the contrary, the same first line as 361.
Second line, “kumoru to miete”: seeming as if it would cloud over.
Third line, “haruru yo no”: of a night that clears again, which with the second line describes a night that half clouds and then clears.
Fourth line, “tsuki wa hikari no”: the moon, its light.
Fifth line, “sou kokochi suru”: sou is to increase, it feels as if the light has grown.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Morotomo ni kage o naraburu hito mo are ya tsuki no morikuru sasa no iori ni
Next Poem: Uki koto no tsuki no omote ni kakaredomo hayaku suguru wa ureshikarikeri