Uki koto no tsuki no omote ni kakaredomo hayaku suguru wa ureshikarikeri

うき事の月の面にかかれども
早く過ぐるはうれしかりけり

Roma-ji: Uki koto no tsuki no omote ni kakaredomo hayaku suguru wa ureshikarikeri
English Translation: Though a sorry thing,
drifting cloud, crosses over
the face of the moon,
how glad I am to see it
quickly pass along its way.
Meaning: Though a wretched drifting cloud passes over the face of the moon, how glad I am that it goes by so quickly.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 371

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When I composed many poems on the moon"
This is the thirty-fifth poem in the moon series. A drifting cloud, a hateful thing, crosses the face of the moon, but how glad the poet is that it passes quickly by. His feeling toward the clouds that hide the moon is expressed as joy at a cloud that soon goes.
Uki plays on uki, wretched, and uki, floating, describing a cloud that is both drifting and hateful. The next poem says on the contrary that it is sad to see a drifting cloud lingering near the moon without passing, so the closing ureshikarikeri and wabishikarikeri form a pair.

First line, “uki koto no”: uki is a pivot word joining uki, wretched, and uki, floating, the hateful drifting cloud.
Second line, “tsuki no omote ni”: across the face of the moon.
Third line, “kakaredomo”: though it crosses, the concessive domo leading to the lower verse.
Fourth line, “hayaku suguru wa”: that it passes quickly.
Fifth line, “ureshikarikeri”: keri expresses realization, how glad it is that the cloud passes quickly; it pairs with wabishikarikeri at the end of the next poem.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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