Kagiri aran kumo koso arame sumigama no keburi ni tsuki no susukenuru kana

限りあらん雲こそあらめ炭竃の
煙に月のすすけぬるかな

Roma-ji: Kagiri aran kumo koso arame sumigama no keburi ni tsuki no susukenuru kana
English Translation: If it were the clouds,
which have their limits, that would be
no more than fair, but
in the smoke of charcoal kilns
the moon has turned all sooty!
Meaning: If it were clouds, whose hiding of the moon must end, that would be one thing; but the moon has been blackened with soot by the smoke of the charcoal kilns.
Commentary: Winter Poems 547

Headnote: "A charcoal kiln before the moon"
The topic is a charcoal kiln before the moon. If the moon were hidden by clouds, which will clear in time, that could not be helped, but the smoke of a kiln burning charcoal has left the moon blackened with soot. The poem catches the moon clouded by smoke, with a touch of humor, as something smudged with soot.
Poem 566 in this book also tells of the village of Ono filled with the smoke of charcoal burning, so both take up the kiln smoke that marks a mountain village in winter.

First line, “kagiri aran”: n is a softening auxiliary, the clouds whose hiding of the moon has its limits.
Second line, “kumo koso arame”: koso is an emphatic particle binding with the perfective me, and leads on concessively, that might be well enough.
Third line, “sumigama no”: sumigama is a kiln for making charcoal from wood.
Fourth line, “keburi ni tsuki no”: the moon, in the smoke, with ni marking the cause.
Fifth line, “susukenuru kana”: susuku is to be blackened with soot; nuru is the attributive of the perfective, and kana is exclamatory.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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