Toribeno ya washi no takane no sue naran keburi o wakete izuru tsukikage

鳥辺野や鷲の高嶺の末ならん
煙を分けて出づる月影

Roma-ji: Toribeno ya washi no takane no sue naran keburi o wakete izuru tsukikage
English Translation: Toribeno, oh,
you must be the far foothills
of the Vulture Peak,
for parting the smoke there comes
forth the light of the moon.
Meaning: Toribeno! This must be a far reach of the Vulture Peak, for here the moonlight comes forth, parting the smoke of the pyres.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 776

Headnote: "From amid the smoke of the funeral rites at Toribeyama, the moon that rose late in the night looked deeply moving"
From the smoke of a cremation at Toribeyama, the moon rose late in the night and appeared deeply moving, and the poet composed this. The Vulture Peak is the mountain where the Buddha preached the Lotus Sutra, and the moon was an emblem of the Buddha's enlightenment. Seeing the moon emerge through the smoke of the pyre, he says that Toribeno too must be a far reach of the Vulture Peak, praying that the dead be welcomed by the Buddha's light.

First line, “Toribeno ya”: the cremation ground in the Eastern Hills; ya is exclamatory.
Second line, “washi no takane no”: the Vulture Peak where the Buddha preached.
Third line, “sue naran”: must be its far reach; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “keburi o wakete”: through the smoke of the pyre, taking up the funeral smoke of the headnote.
Fifth line, “izuru tsukikage”: ending on a noun, the moonlight emerging through the smoke, an emblem of the Buddha's enlightenment.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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