Kono yo nite nagamerareneru tsuki nareba mayowan yami mo terasazarame ya

この世にて眺められねる月なれば
迷はん闇も照らさざらめや

Roma-ji: Kono yo nite nagamerareneru tsuki nareba mayowan yami mo terasazarame ya
English Translation: Since it is the moon
I have gazed at so fondly
here in this world,
how could it fail to light
the dark where I may stray?
Meaning: Since it is the moon I have gazed at all my life in this world, how could it fail to light even the darkness where I may lose my way hereafter?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1041

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Since it is the moon I have gazed at fondly in this world, how could it fail to light the darkness where I may wander hereafter? the poet says. Taking up the moon of the world to come in the preceding poem, he expresses his faith that the moon he has loved all his life will be a saving light even in the darkness after death.
This poem closes the miscellaneous section. Where 712 at its head sang of the bell sounding into a brooding heart, the book ends in trust in the moon that lights the darkness of the next world. Beginning in brooding thought and passing through poems on impermanence and the Buddhist path, it closes on the light of salvation.

First line, “kono yo nite”: in this world, set against 'kon yo' in the preceding poem.
Second line, “nagamerareneru”: written nagamerareneru in the text but taken as nagamerarenuru, gazed at so fondly.
Third line, “tsuki nareba”: since it is the moon.
Fourth line, “mayowan yami mo”: even the darkness where I may stray in the next life.
Fifth line, “terasazarame ya”: me ya is rhetorical; how could it not light it? Surely it will.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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