香具山の白雲かかる峰にても
同じ高さぞ月は見えける
同じ高さぞ月は見えける
- Roma-ji
-
Kaguyama no shirakumo kakaru mine nite mo onaji takasa zo tsuki wa miekeru
- English Translation
-
Even from the peak
of Kagu where the white clouds
cling about its crest,
at the very same height
the moon appeared to me
- Meaning
- Even from the peak of Mount Kagu, where white clouds hang, the moon appeared just as high as ever.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 302
Even when he climbed Mount Kagu, so high that white clouds hang on it, the moon looked just as high as from below, the poet says. Through the contrast with the mountain's height, the poem vividly expresses the unchanging remoteness of the moon from wherever it is seen.
The next poem, 303, sings of the lofty peak of Fuji, continuing poems that pair high mountains with the moon.
The first line, "Kaguyama no," names a poetic place in Yamato Province, one of the Three Mountains of Yamato.
The second line, "shirakumo kakaru," shows a height on which white clouds hang.
The third line, "mine nite mo," uses "mo": even from the peak.
The fourth line, "onaji takasa zo" (at the same height), stresses the sameness with "zo."
The final line, "tsuki wa miekeru," closes "zo" with the attributive exclamatory "keri," a kakari-musubi ending with the observation that the moon looked the same.
- Author
- Ōe no Yoshitoki
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Urameshiku kaerikeru kana tsukuyo ni wa konu hito o dani matsu to koso kike
- Next Poem
-
Yomosugara Fuji no takane ni kumo kiete Kiyomi ga seki ni sumeru tsuki kana