Mono omou sode ni mo tsuki wa yadorikeri nigorade sumeru mizu naranedomo

物思ふ袖にも月は宿りけり
濁らで澄める水ならねども

Roma-ji: Mono omou sode ni mo tsuki wa yadorikeri nigorade sumeru mizu naranedomo
English Translation: Even in my sleeves
wet with brooding, the moon
has come to lodge, I find,
though it is not clear water
that is free of all the mire.
Meaning: Even in my sleeves, wet with the tears of brooding, the moon has come to lodge, though they are not clear water free of all murk.
Commentary: Love Poems 632

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The moon"
The moon is reflected in clear water, yet it lodges even in these sleeves wet with the tears of brooding. By adding that the tears on his sleeves are not clear water, the poet acknowledges the murkiness of a heart disturbed by love, and still feels moved that the moon lodges there.
Following the preceding poem on the moon lodging in the bay of tears, this one too sings of the moon in the tears on the sleeves, adding a contrast between clear water and murky tears.

First line, “mono omou”: brooding, troubled by love.
Second line, “sode ni mo tsuki wa”: the moon even in my sleeves, answering the topic.
Third line, “yadorikeri”: keri marks realization: it lodges there after all. The poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “nigorade sumeru”: de is a negative conjunctive particle: clear and not muddied; sumu is associated with the moon.
Fifth line, “mizu naranedomo”: though it is not such water, returning in inversion to the upper verse.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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