Kono yo dani tsuki matsu hodo wa kurushiki ni aware ikanaru yami ni madowamu - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

この世だに月待つほどは苦しきに
あはれいかなる闇に惑はむ

Roma-ji: Kono yo dani tsuki matsu hodo wa kurushiki ni aware ikanaru yami ni madowamu
English Translation: Even in this world
the dark while waiting for the moon
is so hard to bear —
alas, in what darkness then
shall I wander lost hereafter
Meaning: Even in this world the darkness while we wait for the moon is hard to bear; alas, in what darkness shall I wander after death?
Commentary: Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 360

Even in this world the darkness before the moon rises is painful, the poet says; in the world after death, what darkness will he wander in? The darkness of waiting for the moon is overlaid with the darkness of delusion in the next life, without the light of the Buddha's teaching.
With "the darkness of this sorrowful world" in poem 370 and "to light those lost in darkness" in poem 414, poems on darkness and the moon echo through this book.

The first line, "kono yo dani," uses "dani": even in this world.
The second line, "tsuki matsu hodo wa," refers to the time spent waiting for the moon, and its darkness.
The third line, "kurushiki ni," uses "ni": though it is painful.
The fourth line, "aware ikanaru," laments with "aware" and asks "what kind of."
The final line, "yami ni madowamu," uses the conjectural "mu": in what darkness shall I wander? Poem 414 of this book also says "yami ni madoeru."
Source: Shika Wakashu
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