Akikaze no koto ni mi ni shimu koyoi kana tsuki sae sumeru niwa no keshiki ni

秋風のことに身にしむ今宵かな
月さへ澄める庭のけしきに

Roma-ji: Akikaze no koto ni mi ni shimu koyoi kana tsuki sae sumeru niwa no keshiki ni
English Translation: The autumn wind blows,
sinking deep into me, as koto
strings sound this night—
for even the moon shines clear
upon the garden's quiet scene.
Meaning: Tonight the autumn wind sinks into me all the more, carried on the sound of the koto, for even the moon dwells clear upon the garden's scene.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1042

Headnote: "In the eighth month, at the time of the moon, I went late at night to Kitashirakawa. At a house that seemed to be of some standing I heard the sound of a koto, so I stopped and listened. It was, fittingly, the piece called Shūfūraku, 'Autumn Wind Music.' Looking into the garden, I saw the moon lodged in the dew on the low reeds, a moving sight. Feeling that the wind in the reeds beside it must sink deep into the heart, I sent in this poem and passed on."
Passing through Kitashirakawa late on an eighth-month night, Saigyō stops at the sound of a koto from a house of some distinction and, gazing at a garden where the moon lodges in the dew on the low reeds, composes this poem. The headnote shows an elegant chance encounter: moved by the autumn wind sinking into him with the music and by the clear moon in the garden, he sends word in to the household and goes on his way.
The piece being played, Shūfūraku, is woven into "autumn wind" in the first line and "koto ni" in the second, so that the music heard, the wind blowing, and the moon in the garden are drawn into a single poem. It stands at the head of Book Seven; following 1041 at the close of Book Six, which sang of the moon lighting the darkness of the next world, this book opens with the moon shining clear in a garden of this world.

First line, “akikaze no”: the actual autumn wind, while also echoing the title of the koto piece, Shūfūraku.
Second line, “koto ni mi ni shimu”: koto ni is a pivot word meaning both "especially" and "with the koto," so the wind sinks in all the more, and sinks in on the sound of the strings.
Third line, “koyoi kana”: kana is exclamatory, and the poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “tsuki sae sumeru”: sae adds "even," the moon joining the music and the wind.
Fifth line, “niwa no keshiki ni”: by the scene of the garden, the moon lodged in the dew; the inversion gives the reason for the deep feeling only at the end.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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