Yomosugara tsuki o migao ni motenashite kokoro no yami ni mayou koro kana

夜もすがら月を見顔にもてなして
心の闇に迷ふ頃かな

Roma-ji: Yomosugara tsuki o migao ni motenashite kokoro no yami ni mayou koro kana
English Translation: All the long night through
as though gazing at the moon
I put on a face,
but in the darkness of my heart
it is lost I wander now.
Meaning: All night long I put on the look of one gazing at the moon, yet these days I wander lost in the darkness of my heart.
Commentary: Love Poems 640

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The moon"
All night long the poet behaves as though he were gazing at the moon, but in truth these days he wanders in the darkness of a heart that love has thrown into confusion. Setting the brightness of the moon against the darkness of the heart, the poem portrays someone who outwardly feigns the refinement of moon-viewing while inwardly bearing love's bewilderment.

First line, “yomosugara”: all night long.
Second line, “tsuki o migao ni”: migao is the look of one gazing, answering the topic.
Third line, “motenashite”: motenasu is to behave so, to put on that appearance.
Fourth line, “kokoro no yami ni”: kokoro no yami is a heart lost in confusion likened to darkness, set against the brightness of the moon.
Fifth line, “mayou koro kana”: kana is exclamatory, lamenting these days spent wandering in the heart's darkness.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Omokage ni kimi ga sugata o mitsuru yori niwaka ni tsuki no kumorinuru kana
Next Poem: Aki no tsuki mono omou hito no tame tote ya uki omokage ni soete izuran