Katasogi no yukiawanu ma yori moru tsuki ya saete misode no shimo ni okuran

かたそぎの行き合はぬ間より漏る月や
冴えて御袖の霜に置くらん

Roma-ji: Katasogi no yukiawanu ma yori moru tsuki ya saete misode no shimo ni okuran
English Translation: Through the space between
the crossed beams that do not meet,
does the moonlight leak,
cold and clear, to lie as frost
on the sleeves of the god within?
Meaning: Does the moonlight, leaking through the gap where the crossed rafters of the shrine roof do not meet, lie cold and clear as frost upon the sacred sleeves of the god?
Commentary: Autumn Poems 409

Headnote: "When people visited Sumiyoshi and delighted in the moon"
The headnote tells us this was composed when the poet and others visited the Sumiyoshi Shrine and enjoyed the moon. Moonlight leaks in through the gap where the slanted ends of the crossed rafters on the shrine roof do not meet, and that light, cold and clear, may be lying as frost on the god's sleeves. Likening moonlight to frost, the poet thinks of the god of Sumiyoshi.
It draws on a poem attributed to the god of Sumiyoshi asking whether the night is cold or the robe thin, that frost settles through the gap where the slanted rafters do not meet, and here that frost is replaced by moonlight. The next poem, from the same occasion, sings of the moon on the shore at Sumiyoshi.

First line, “katasogi no”: katasogi are the tips of the crossed rafters projecting from a shrine roof, cut off at a slant.
Second line, “yukiawanu ma yori”: a hypermetric line of eight syllables, through the gap where the slanted ends do not meet, taken directly from the god's poem.
Third line, “moru tsuki ya”: ya is a question particle answering ran in the last line, the moonlight leaking through the gap.
Fourth line, “saete misode no”: saeru is to be cold and clear, and misode are the god's sleeves.
Fifth line, “shimo ni okuran”: ran is present conjecture in the attributive form required by ya, does it lie there as frost, likening moonlight to frost.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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