Ukiyo to mo omoitōsaji oshikaeshi tsuki no sumikeru hisakata no sora

憂き世とも思ひ通さじ押し返し
月の澄みける久方の空

Roma-ji: Ukiyo to mo omoitōsaji oshikaeshi tsuki no sumikeru hisakata no sora
English Translation: Not as a world of grief
will I go on thinking of it:
turning back again,
how clear the moon is shining
in the everlasting sky!
Meaning: I will not go on thinking of this as a world of sorrow; turning my thoughts around, see how clear the moon shines in the vast sky.
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1481

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on the Moon"
The ninth of the ten poems on the moon. He will stop thinking of this world as nothing but sorrow, for, on reflection, it is a world with a sky where the moon shines so clear.
It sings of a turn of the heart: though the world is full of grief, one cannot simply despise it when one sees the clear moon. Where the preceding poem sang of a moon clouded by tears, this one shows the heart clearing with the moon, the two forming a pair.

First line, “ukiyo to mo”: as a world of sorrow.
Second line, “omoitōsaji”: ji is negative intention, "I will not keep thinking so"; the poem breaks here.
Third line, “oshikaeshi”: turning back, on reflection.
Fourth line, “tsuki no sumikeru”: keru marks exclamation, "how clear the moon shines."
Fifth line, “hisakata no sora”: hisakata no is a pillow word for sky; ending on a noun.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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