Uchitaete nageku namida ni waga sode no kuchinaba nani ni tsuki o yadosan

うち絶えて嘆く涙に我が袖の
朽ちなば何に月を宿さん

Roma-ji: Uchitaete nageku namida ni waga sode no kuchinaba nani ni tsuki o yadosan
English Translation: Broken off for good,
in the tears I weep in grief
if these sleeves of mine
should rot away, in what then
would I lodge the moon to stay?
Meaning: If my sleeves should rot away in the tears I weep now that all is broken off between us, in what could I then lodge the moon?
Commentary: Love Poems 635

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The moon"
If the bond with the beloved has broken off entirely and his sleeves rot from the tears of endless grieving, the poet asks, in what could he then lodge the moon? In the fear of losing even the sleeves that hold the moon lies the depth of a love whose tears never run dry.
Where the preceding poem resolved to lodge the moon to its heart's content in a pond of tears, this one grieves that if the sleeves rot away the moon cannot be lodged at all, reversing the same device.

First line, “uchitaete”: uchitayu is to break off entirely, the bond with the beloved at an end.
Second line, “nageku namida ni”: by the tears of grieving.
Third line, “waga sode no”: my sleeves.
Fourth line, “kuchinaba nani ni”: if they should rot; na is the conditional form of the perfective nu.
Fifth line, “tsuki o yadosan”: in what would I lodge the moon? answering nani ni in the fourth line; the same line closes the preceding poem.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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