Nanigoto ka kono yo ni hetaru omoide o toekashi hito ni tsuki o oshien

何事かこの世に経たる思ひ出を
問へかし人に月を教へん

Roma-ji: Nanigoto ka kono yo ni hetaru omoide o toekashi hito ni tsuki o oshien
English Translation: "What, out of all things,
is the memory you hold
from your passage here?"
Ask me that, someone, I pray,
and I will tell you: the moon.
Meaning: I wish someone would ask me what memory I hold from my passage through this world; then I would tell them: the moon.
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1479

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on the Moon"
The seventh of the ten poems on the moon. If only someone would ask what memory he holds from living in this world, he would answer that it is the moon.
In the form of question and answer, it expresses a deep love for the moon as what remains in the heart after a lifetime. One senses the heart of a poet who made gazing at the moon the joy of his life.

First line, “nanigoto ka”: what is it, asking what the memory is.
Second line, “kono yo ni hetaru”: heru means to pass time, to live, "lived through in this world."
Third line, “omoide o”: the memory of a lifetime.
Fourth line, “toekashi hito ni”: kashi is an insistent particle, "I wish someone would ask"; the poem breaks within the line.
Fifth line, “tsuki o oshien”: n expresses intention, "I will tell them it is the moon."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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