Ika ni shite kozue no hima mo o motomeete koike ni koyoi tsuki no sumuran

いかにして梢の隙もを求め得て
小池に今宵月の澄むらん

Roma-ji: Ika ni shite kozue no hima mo o motomeete koike ni koyoi tsuki no sumuran
English Translation: However did it
search and find a gap among
the treetops' thick boughs,
that tonight in Little Pond
the moon is shining clear?
Meaning: How did the moon ever find a gap among the treetops, that tonight it shines so clear in the little pond of Koike?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1108

Headnote: "At the lodging called Koike"
Composed at Koike, Little Pond, one of the lodgings on the Ōmine ridge route. The trees grow thick, yet how did the moon find a gap in the treetops to shine so clear tonight in this little pond? the poet wonders.
Taking the name of the lodging, Koike, as an actual small pond, he delights in the moon lodging there. It is a quiet, pure scene of moonlight slipping through the branches deep in the forest to be reflected in the pond.

First line, “ika ni shite”: in what way, answering ran in the fifth line.
Second line, “kozue no hima mo o”: the gaps in the treetops; the text has mo o as it stands, making the line overlong.
Third line, “motomeete”: having sought out and found.
Fourth line, “koike ni koyoi”: Koike is both the name of the lodging and "a small pond."
Fifth line, “tsuki no sumuran”: ran conjectures a cause, "why is it shining clear?"
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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