Hana ni oku tsuyu ni yadorishi kage yori mo kareno no tsuki wa aware narikeri

花に置く露に宿りし影よりも
枯れ野の月はあはれなりけり

Roma-ji: Hana ni oku tsuyu ni yadorishi kage yori mo kareno no tsuki wa aware narikeri
English Translation: On the flowers lay
the dew where it found its lodging,
more than that moonlight,
the moon upon the withered moor
is what moves my heart so deeply.
Meaning: More than the moonlight that once lodged in the dew on the autumn flowers, the moon over the withered moor moves my heart so deeply.
Commentary: Winter Poems 519

Headnote: "The moon shining on cold grasses"
The topic is the moon shining on cold grasses. More than the moonlight that once lodged in the dew on the autumn flowers, the poet finds the moon over the withered winter moor deeply moving. He discovers a deeper feeling in the moon over a lonely winter moor than in the bright moon of autumn.
The next poem is the second on the same topic. Like 517 in this book, which found the moon shining clear over a bleak winter village moving, this poem gives its heart to the moon amid a lonely winter scene.

First line, “hana ni oku”: lying on the flowers, the dew resting on the autumn flowers.
Second line, “tsuyu ni yadorishi”: yadoru is for light or a form to be reflected and remain, the moonlight reflected in the dew; shi is the attributive of the past auxiliary ki.
Third line, “kage yori mo”: kage is the moonlight, and yori mo marks the comparison.
Fourth line, “kareno no tsuki wa”: kareno is a winter moor where plants have withered, answering the cold grasses of the topic.
Fifth line, “aware narikeri”: aware nari is to be deeply moved, and keri is exclamatory.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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