Wata no hara nami ni mo tsuki wa kakurekeri miyako no yama o nani itoiken

わたの原波にも月は隠れけり
都の山を何厭ひけん

Roma-ji: Wata no hara nami ni mo tsuki wa kakurekeri miyako no yama o nani itoiken
English Translation: Over the wide sea
even in the waves the moon
goes to hide itself—
why, then, did I so resent
the hills about the capital?
Meaning: On the wide sea, the moon hides itself even behind the waves. Why, then, did I so resent the hills of the capital?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1102

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composing poems on travel"
On the open sea the moon hides even behind the waves, the poet finds; why, then, did he so resent the hills that hid the moon in the capital?
Where the preceding poem saw the moon rise from the sea, this one sees it set into the waves and realizes it was not only hills that hindered the moon. Looking back on his old resentment of the capital's hills, the poem carries a light self-mockery.

First line, “wata no hara”: the wide sea, the same first line as the preceding poem, making a pair.
Second line, “nami ni mo tsuki wa”: mo means "the waves as well," not only the hills.
Third line, “kakurekeri”: keri marks realization, "it hides"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “miyako no yama o”: the hills that hid the setting moon in the capital.
Fifth line, “nani itoiken”: ken conjectures about the past, "why did I resent them?", reflecting on his former self.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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