隈もなく信太の森の下晴れて
千枝の数さへ見ゆる月影
千枝の数さへ見ゆる月影
- Roma-ji
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Kuma mo naku Shinoda no mori no shita harete chie no kazu sae miyuru tsukikage
- English Translation
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Without a shadow,
the forest of Shinoda
is bright beneath its boughs,
and even its thousand branches
show themselves in the moonlight
- Meaning
- Leaving not a shadow, the moonlight brightens the forest of Shinoda down to its floor, so that even the thousand branches of its camphor tree can be counted.
- Commentary
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Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 295
The moonlight reaches into every corner of the forest of Shinoda in Izumi, so bright beneath the trees that even the thousand branches of its camphor can be seen. Drawing on the forest's famous camphor tree with its thousand branches, the poem expresses the moon's brightness through exaggeration.
Poem 307 of this book also uses "shita harete" (bright beneath), depicting the moon over the cedar grove at Ōsaka Barrier.
The first line, "kuma mo naku" (without a shadow), means the moonlight reaches every corner.
The second line, "Shinoda no mori no," names a poetic place in Izumi Province, a forest famed for its camphor tree of a thousand branches.
The third line, "shita harete," means bright down to the forest floor.
The fourth line, "chie no kazu sae," adds with "sae": even the number of its thousand branches.
The final line, "miyuru tsukikage," ends with a noun, presenting the moonlight that reveals even the branches. Poem 304 of this book also ends with "tsukikage."
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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