Yoyo fu tomo wasuregatami no omoide wa tamoto ni tsuki no yadoru bakari ka

世々経ともわすれがたみの思ひ出は
袂に月の宿るばかりか

Roma-ji: Yoyo fu tomo wasuregatami no omoide wa tamoto ni tsuki no yadoru bakari ka
English Translation: Though ages go by,
the hard-to-forget keepsake,
the memory left,
is it only the moonlight
that lodges within my sleeves?
Meaning: Though ages pass, is the only keepsake I cannot forget the moon lodging in my tear-wet sleeves?
Commentary: Love Poems 636

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The moon"
Is the only memory left as a keepsake of the beloved, one that cannot be forgotten through all the ages, the moon lodging in his tear-wet sleeves? The poem expresses the loneliness of a love whose only remains are the tear-soaked sleeves that hold the moon. Wasuregatami joins 'hard to forget' with katami, a keepsake.

First line, “yoyo fu tomo”: though ages pass; tomo marks a concessive supposition.
Second line, “wasuregatami no”: wasuregatami is a pivot word joining hard to forget with katami, a keepsake.
Third line, “omoide wa”: the memory.
Fourth line, “tamoto ni tsuki no”: the moon in my tear-wet sleeves, answering the topic.
Fifth line, “yadoru bakari ka”: bakari limits and ka questions: is it only that the moon lodges there?
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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