Yo no naka no uki o mo shirade sumu tsuki no kage wa waga mi no kokochi koso sure

世の中の憂きをも知らで澄む月の
影は我が身の心地こそすれ

Roma-ji: Yo no naka no uki o mo shirade sumu tsuki no kage wa waga mi no kokochi koso sure
English Translation: Knowing nothing of
all the sorrows of this world,
shining clear above,
the moon's light seems to me
to be like my very self.
Meaning: The light of the moon that shines clear, knowing nothing of the sorrows of the world, seems to me like my very self.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 401

Headnote: "Expressing my feelings through the moon"
The topic is expressing one's own thoughts through the moon, and six poems on this topic follow. The moonlight, shining clear as though it knew nothing of the world's sorrows, seems to the poet like himself, who has left the sorrowful world behind. In the moon shining apart from the world, he sees his own figure as one who has taken vows.
Where the moon poems before sang of the moon's beauty and the heart that gazes at it, this series expresses through the moon the poet's own way of life and thoughts.

First line, “yo no naka no”: of this world, modifying uki in the second line.
Second line, “uki o mo shirade”: not knowing its sorrows; de is a negative conjunctive particle.
Third line, “sumu tsuki no”: of the moon shining clear.
Fourth line, “kage wa waga mi no”: kage is moonlight, the moonlight, my own self's.
Fifth line, “kokochi koso sure”: koso is answered by the perfective sure, stressing that it feels like himself.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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