池水に宿れる月はそれながら
眺むる人の影ぞ変はれる
眺むる人の影ぞ変はれる
- Roma-ji
-
Ikemizu ni yadoreru tsuki wa sore nagara nagamuru hito no kage zo kawareru
- English Translation
-
The moon that dwells
reflected in the pond's water
remains as it was —
it is the face of the one
gazing at it that has changed
- Meaning
- The moon reflected in the pond is just as it was; it is the one who gazes at it whose face has changed.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 290
The moon mirrored in the pond is unchanged from the past, the poet says, but the person who gazes at it has changed. Contrasting unchanging nature with the shifting human world, the poem expresses deep feeling at the passing of time.
Poem 308 of this book likewise says that in a ruined dwelling only the moon remains as of old, treating the same theme of the unchanging moon and the changing world.
The first line, "ikemizu ni" (in the pond's water), shows the moon reflected on the surface.
The second line, "yadoreru tsuki wa," uses the attributive of the continuative "ri" for the moon reflected in the water, singling it out with "wa."
The third line, "sore nagara" (just as it was), means the moon is unchanged.
The fourth line, "nagamuru hito no" (of the one who gazes), refers to the person watching, contrasted with the moon of the second line.
The final line, "kage zo kawareru," forms a kakari-musubi of "zo" and the attributive continuative "ru": the person's figure has changed. "Kage" means one's appearance, also suggesting a reflection in the water.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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Tsuki wa iri hito wa idenaba tomariite hitori ya waga sora o nagamemu
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Yo no naka o omoi na iri so Mikasayama sashiizuru tsuki no sumamu kagiri wa