Ikade ware kiyoku kumoranu mi ni narite kokoro no tsuki no kage o migakan

いかで我清く曇らぬ身になりて
心の月の影を磨かん

Roma-ji: Ikade ware kiyoku kumoranu mi ni narite kokoro no tsuki no kage o migakan
English Translation: Somehow I would be
a self that's pure and that holds
no cloud at all,
and so polish the light
of the moon within my heart.
Meaning: Somehow I long to become a self pure and unclouded, and polish bright the light of the moon within my heart.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 904

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On what I was thinking in my heart"
This is the second of the five. Somehow I long to become pure and unclouded and polish the light of the moon in my heart, the poet says. Answering the lament for a muddied heart in the preceding poem, he wishes to cleanse it and let the light of enlightenment shine.

First line, “ikade ware”: ikade expresses a longing, somehow.
Second line, “kiyoku kumoranu”: pure and unclouded, set against 'nigoritaru' in the preceding poem.
Third line, “mi ni narite”: becoming such a self.
Fourth line, “kokoro no tsuki no”: kokoro no tsuki is the enlightened mind as the moon, taking up the moon of the preceding poem.
Fifth line, “kage o migakan”: n expresses intention, I would polish its light.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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