Yo no naka wa kumorihatenuru tsuki nare ya saritomo to mishi kage mo matarezu

世の中は曇り果てぬる月なれや
さりともと見し影も待たれず

Roma-ji: Yo no naka wa kumorihatenuru tsuki nare ya saritomo to mishi kage mo matarezu
English Translation: Is this world of ours
like the moon that has clouded
over through and through?
Even the light I hoped for
I no longer wait to see.
Meaning: Is the world a moon clouded over completely? Even the light I once watched for, hoping it would come in the end, I no longer find myself waiting for.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 402

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing my feelings through the moon"
This is the second poem in the series expressing thoughts through the moon. Is the world like a moon that has clouded over completely? Even the light the poet once watched for, hoping it would shine in the end, he no longer feels like waiting for. Likening the world to a clouded moon, he speaks of a heart that has lost hope in the world.
Where the preceding poem laid the clear moon over the poet himself, who has left the world, this one lays the clouded moon over the world itself. The clear moon and the clouded moon, the poet who has renounced the world and the world itself, form a pair across the two poems.

First line, “yo no naka wa”: this world, as it is.
Second line, “kumorihatenuru”: hatsu means to do completely, and nuru is the attributive of the perfective nu, clouded over completely.
Third line, “tsuki nare ya”: is it a moon, the perfective form with the question particle ya; the poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “saritomo to mishi”: saritomo means even so, surely someday, watched with hope.
Fifth line, “kage mo matarezu”: re is spontaneous, even the light is not awaited, I no longer feel like waiting.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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