Shirakawa no sekiya o tsuki no moru kage wa hito no kokoro o tomuru narikeri

白河の関屋を月のもる影は
人の心をとむるなりけり

Roma-ji: Shirakawa no sekiya o tsuki no moru kage wa hito no kokoro o tomuru narikeri
English Translation: At Shirakawa,
moonlight spilling through the hut
that guards the barrier—
it is this, I've come to know,
that holds the traveler's heart.
Meaning: The moonlight that leaks through the guardhouse of the Shirakawa barrier, as if keeping watch, is what holds back the traveler's heart.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1126

Headnote: "Traveling on pilgrimage to Michinoku, I stopped at the Shirakawa barrier. Perhaps because of the place, the moon was finer and more moving than usual, and I wondered when it was that Nōin wrote 'the autumn wind blows.' Feeling deeply reluctant to leave, I wrote this on a pillar of the barrier hut"
Traveling to Michinoku, Saigyō stayed at the Shirakawa barrier; the moon seemed especially fine, and recalling Nōin's poem with "the autumn wind blows," he wrote this on a pillar of the guardhouse. The moonlight spilling into the guardhouse, he says, holds back the traveler's heart, just as a barrier stops travelers.
Calling to mind Nōin's "Miyako o ba kasumi to tomo ni tachishikado akikaze zo fuku Shirakawa no seki" (Goshūishū), the poem holds the emotion of standing at last at the barrier earlier poets sang of. It was also included among the travel poems of the Shinkokinshū.

First line, “Shirakawa no”: of the Shirakawa barrier at the entrance to Michinoku, a famous poetic place.
Second line, “sekiya o tsuki no”: the sekiya is the guardhouse of the barrier.
Third line, “moru kage wa”: moru pivots on moonlight "leaking" and "guarding" the barrier.
Fourth line, “hito no kokoro o”: the traveler's heart.
Fifth line, “tomuru narikeri”: it is this that holds it back, overlaying the barrier's stopping of travelers; keri marks realization.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Shitau aki wa tsuyu mo tomaranu miyako e to nadote isogishi funade naruran
Next Poem: Miyako idete ōsaka koeshi ori made wa kokoro kasumeshi shirakawa no seki