Asahi matsu hodo wa yami ni ya mayowamashi ariake no tsuki no kage nakariseba

朝日待つほどは闇にや迷はまし
有明の月の影なかりせば

Roma-ji: Asahi matsu hodo wa yami ni ya mayowamashi ariake no tsuki no kage nakariseba
English Translation: While waiting for the
morning sun, would I not have
wandered in the dark,
had there been no light shed from
the moon that lingers into dawn?
Meaning: While waiting for the morning sun, I would surely have wandered in the dark, had there been no light from the moon that lingers into dawn.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 868

Headnote: "On meeting the teaching and awaiting the dragon-flower tree"
The topic means meeting the Buddha's teaching while awaiting the time when the bodhisattva Maitreya attains enlightenment beneath the dragon-flower tree and preaches. The long ages between Shakyamuni's passing and Maitreya's coming, five billion six hundred seventy million years, are likened to the night before the morning sun, and the Buddha's teaching that remains to the moon that lingers into dawn. Had there been no light from that moon, I would have wandered in the dark while waiting for the sun, the poet says, rejoicing to have met the teaching.

First line, “asahi matsu”: awaiting the morning sun, a figure for awaiting Maitreya, answering the topic.
Second line, “hodo wa yami ni ya”: ya is answered by mashi in the third line.
Third line, “mayowamashi”: mashi is counterfactual, I would have wandered; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “ariake no tsuki no”: the moon lingering into dawn, a figure for the Buddha's teaching; a line of six syllables.
Fifth line, “kage nakariseba”: seba is counterfactual, had there been no light, inverted to follow the third line.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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