Omoide mo nakute ya waga mi yaminamashi Obasuteyama no tsuki mizariseba - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

思ひ出もなくてや我が身やみなまし
姨捨山の月見ざりせば

Roma-ji: Omoide mo nakute ya waga mi yaminamashi Obasuteyama no tsuki mizariseba
English Translation: Without a memory
to treasure, would my whole life
have come to an end,
had I never gazed upon
the moon on Mount Obasute
Meaning: Had I never seen the moon over Mount Obasute, would my life have ended without a single memory worth keeping?
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 287

Praising the moon seen over Mount Obasute in Shinano, the poet goes so far as to say that without it his life would have ended with nothing to remember. The bold claim that a moon could be a lifetime's memory carries deep emotion at its beauty.
The moon over Obasute has been famous since an anonymous poem in the Kokin Wakashu said it left the heart unconsoled. The next poem, 288, also sings of the moon over Obasute, and from here the book continues with a long run of moon poems.

The first line, "omoide mo" (not even a memory), uses "mo" for "not even."
The second line, "nakute ya waga mi," poses a question with "ya."
The third line, "yaminamashi," closes "ya" with the perfective "nu" and the attributive counterfactual "mashi," a kakari-musubi — would it have ended? — with a break after the third line.
The fourth line, "Obasuteyama no," names a poetic place in Shinano Province famous for its moon. The next poem names the same mountain in its second line.
The final line, "tsuki mizariseba," is a counterfactual condition with "se," the irrealis of the past "ki," and "ba"; answering "mashi" in the third line, it gives by inversion the condition: had I not seen the moon.
Source: Shika Wakashu
Prev Poem: Naniwae no shigeki ashima o kogu fune wa sao no oto ni zo yuku kata o shiru
Next Poem: Na ni takaki Obasuteyama mo mishikadomo koyoi bakari no tsuki wa nakariki