Yumihari no tsuki ni hazurete mishi kage no yasashikarishi wa itsu ka wasuren

弓張の月にはづれて見し影の
やさしかりしはいつか忘れん

Roma-ji: Yumihari no tsuki ni hazurete mishi kage no yasashikarishi wa itsu ka wasuren
English Translation: The bow-shaped moon's light
it missed, but there I saw you,
and your figure so
graceful as it was that night,
when could I ever forget?
Meaning: When could I ever forget how graceful you looked, the glimpse I had of you in the shadows beyond the light of the bow-shaped moon?
Commentary: Love Poems 620

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The moon"
The poet will never forget how graceful the beloved looked when he glimpsed her in the shadows beyond the light of the bow-shaped moon. Seen where the moonlight did not reach, her figure stays all the more vividly in his heart. Yumihari, the bow, and hazure, missing the mark, are linked as associated words of the bow and the arrow that misses.

First line, “yumihari no”: yumihari is the half moon, shaped like a bow with its string drawn.
Second line, “tsuki ni hazurete”: out of the moon's light, in the shadows; hazuru is associated with the bow.
Third line, “mishi kage no”: kage is a figure, the beloved glimpsed faintly in the shadow.
Fourth line, “yasashikarishi wa”: yasashi is graceful, refined and lovely.
Fifth line, “itsu ka wasuren”: when would I forget? never; ka is rhetorical and answers n.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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