Miyako ni mo tabi naru tsuki no kage o koso onaji kumoi no sora ni miru rame

都にも旅なる月の影をこそ
同じ雲居の空に見るらめ

Roma-ji: Miyako ni mo tabi naru tsuki no kage o koso onaji kumoi no sora ni miru rame
English Translation: In the capital too,
the moonlight that I see
here upon my journey,
in the selfsame cloudy sky
they too must be gazing at.
Meaning: In the capital as well, they must be looking at this same moonlight I see on my journey, in the very same sky.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1094

Headnote: "Going to Ise on pilgrimage, I thought of the capital at the time of the moon"
On his way to Ise as a wandering ascetic, Saigyō was reminded of the capital at the season of the moon. The people in the capital, too, must be seeing in the same sky the moon he sees on the road, he thinks, communing with them across the distance through the moon.
The idea of seeing the same moon from distant places is traditional, and here the loneliness of travel is eased by imagining the moon shared. Kumoi means the sky and also the imperial court, echoing his thoughts of the capital.

First line, “miyako ni mo”: in the capital as well.
Second line, “tabi naru tsuki no”: of the moon seen on the journey.
Third line, “kage o koso”: koso is emphatic, answered by the realis rame in the fifth line.
Fourth line, “onaji kumoi no”: kumoi is the sky, with an echo of the court, suggesting the sky over the capital.
Fifth line, “sora ni miru rame”: closing the koso construction, "they must be seeing it."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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