Itodo ika ni nishi e katabuku tsukikage o tsune yori mo ge ni kimi shitauran

いとどいかに西へ傾く月影を
常よりもげに君慕ふらん

Roma-ji: Itodo ika ni nishi e katabuku tsukikage o tsune yori mo ge ni kimi shitauran
English Translation: How much more, I wonder,
the moonlight sinking toward
the west, more than ever,
you must be yearning after,
there where you are now.
Meaning: How much more deeply than ever, I wonder, you must yearn for the moonlight as it sinks toward the west.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 853

Headnote: "Hearing that the holy man who was my companion in practice was in retreat at Tennōji in the season of the moon, I sent this"
Hearing that the holy man who had shared his practice was in retreat at Tennōji in the season of the bright moon, the poet sent this. The west gate of Tennōji was believed to open onto the east gate of paradise, and there was a devotion of worshipping the sun and moon setting in the west while thinking of the Pure Land. How much more than ever you must yearn for the moonlight sinking westward, he says, imagining his friend's faith.

First line, “itodo ika ni”: itodo is all the more; a line of six syllables.
Second line, “nishi e katabuku”: sinking toward the west, calling to mind the Western Paradise.
Third line, “tsukikage o”: the moonlight.
Fourth line, “tsune yori mo ge ni”: ge ni is all the more.
Fifth line, “kimi shitauran”: ran is conjecture about the present; you must be yearning.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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