Kage mienu kimi wa amayo no tsuki nare ya idete mo hito ni shirarezarikeri - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

影見えぬ君は雨夜の月なれや
出でても人に知られざりけり

Roma-ji: Kage mienu kimi wa amayo no tsuki nare ya idete mo hito ni shirarezarikeri
English Translation: You whose form unseen
are you then the moon that hides
on a rainy night,
for though you have come out,
no one ever knew of it
Meaning: You whose face I never see, are you the moon on a rainy night? Even when you came out, no one ever knew it.
Commentary: Book Seven Love Poems I 207

The poet likens a lover who never shows herself to the moon on a rainy night. Just as the moon hidden behind rain clouds goes unnoticed even when it is in the sky, the beloved comes yet stays unseen, and her visit cannot be known.

The first line, "kage mienu" (whose form is unseen), uses "kage," which suggests both moonlight and a person's figure.
The second line, "kimi wa amayo no," singles out the beloved with "wa" and likens her to the moon of a rainy night.
The third line, "tsuki nare ya," is a question formed with "ya" after the perfective form: is it because you are the moon? A break falls after the third line.
The fourth line, "idete mo hito ni," overlaps the moon rising with a person going out, with the concessive "even though."
The final line, "shirarezarikeri," ends with the exclamatory "keri," lamenting that it went unknown. It recasts, through the image of the moon, the theme of knowing and being unknown in 188 and 189 of this book.
Source: Shika Wakashu
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