Mikazuki no mata ariake ni narinuru ya ukiyo o meguru tameshi naruramu - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

三日月のまた有明になりぬるや
憂き世をめぐるためしなるらむ

Roma-ji: Mikazuki no mata ariake ni narinuru ya ukiyo o meguru tameshi naruramu
English Translation: The crescent moon has
become once more the moon of dawn —
is this, I wonder,
an instance of how we go
round and round this world of grief
Meaning: The crescent moon has waned once more into the moon of dawn — is this, I wonder, a sign of how we go round and round in this sorrowful world?
Commentary: Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 351

Seeing the crescent moon wax and wane until it becomes the moon of dawn once more, the poet wonders whether this is an instance of going round and round in this sorrowful world. The cycle of the moon is overlaid with the endless round of birth and death.
Following the "naruramu" endings of the two preceding poems, it too ends with "naruramu." Poem 408 and the final poem, 415, also sing of the moon at dawn, so that the dawn moon is placed at the beginning and end of this book.

The first line, "mikazuki no" (the crescent moon), names the thin moon of the third night.
The second line, "mata ariake ni," refers to the moon waxing and waning until it lingers in the dawn sky again.
The third line, "narinuru ya," uses the attributive perfective "nuru" and "ya" to pose a question: that it has become so.
The fourth line, "ukiyo o meguru," refers to going round this sorrowful world through rebirth, overlaid with the moon's circling.
The final line, "tameshi naruramu," closes "ya" with the copula "nari" and attributive "ramu," a kakari-musubi: is it an example of this?
Author: Fujiwara no Norinaga
Source: Shika Wakashu
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