Chidori naku Eshima no ura ni sumu tsuki o nami ni utsushite miru koyoi kana

千鳥鳴く絵島の浦に澄む月を
波に映して見る今宵かな

Roma-ji: Chidori naku Eshima no ura ni sumu tsuki o nami ni utsushite miru koyoi kana
English Translation: Where the plovers cry
in the bay of Eshima,
the clear moon shining,
mirrored on the waves I see
on this night, tonight.
Meaning: Tonight I gaze at the moon shining clear over the bay of Eshima, where plovers cry, mirrored on the waves.
Commentary: Winter Poems 553

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem tells of gazing tonight at the moon shining clear over the bay of Eshima, where plovers cry, reflected in the waves of the bay. Joining the moon in the sky, the moon on the waves and the cries of the plovers, it catches the beauty of a winter night by the sea.
Placed after the five poems on plovers, it carries the plovers' voices into its first line. Like 548 and 549 in this book, it is also set on a shore connected with Awaji Island.

First line, “chidori naku”: where plovers cry, taking up the plover poems before it.
Second line, “Eshima no ura ni”: Eshima is a place in poetry at the north of Awaji Island, famous for the moon.
Third line, “sumu tsuki o”: the moon shining clear, cold and bright in the sky.
Fourth line, “nami ni utsushite”: reflecting it on the waves, viewing the moon of the sky in the waves of the bay.
Fifth line, “miru koyoi kana”: koyoi is tonight, and kana is exclamatory.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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