Tsuki o ushi to nagamenagara mo omou kana sono yo bakari no kage to ya wa mishi

月を憂しと眺めながらも思ふかな
その夜ばかりの影とやは見し

Roma-ji: Tsuki o ushi to nagamenagara mo omou kana sono yo bakari no kage to ya wa mishi
English Translation: Though I gaze upon
the moon as a thing of grief,
still I think of this:
did I see that light as shining
for that single night alone?
Meaning: Even as I gaze on the moon and find it painful, I think: did I ever see its light as meant for that one night alone?
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1500

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on Love"
The eighth of the ten poems on love. Gazing now on the moon as a thing of pain, he recalls that on the night he met his love he never thought its light would belong to that night only.
It sings of how the moon seen on a night of meeting has become a reminder of the pain of parting. Looking at the same moon, past joy and present grief are set against each other. Placed after the ten moon poems, it turns the moon toward love.

First line, “tsuki o ushi to”: thinking the moon painful; the line has an extra syllable.
Second line, “nagamenagara mo”: even while gazing in brooding.
Third line, “omou kana”: kana marks exclamation, "I think"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “sono yo bakari no”: belonging only to that night of meeting.
Fifth line, “kage to ya wa mishi”: ya wa is rhetorical, "did I see it as such light?—I did not."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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