いにしへを恋ふる涙にくらされて
おぼろに見ゆる秋の夜の月
おぼろに見ゆる秋の夜の月
- Roma-ji
-
Inishie o kouru namida ni kurasarete oboro ni miyuru aki no yo no tsuki
- English Translation
-
Darkened by the tears
I shed in longing for
the days of long ago,
how dimly it appears to me,
the moon of this autumn night
- Meaning
- Clouded by the tears I shed in longing for days gone by, the autumn moon appears only dim and hazy.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 392
Tears shed in longing for the past cloud the poet's eyes, so that the autumn moon, which should shine clear, looks hazy. Applying "oboro" (hazy), a word for the spring moon, to the autumn moon, the poem conveys deep nostalgia through a moon dimmed by tears.
The next poem, 393, also sings of looking at the moon in sorrow, and from here poems of grief at losing someone follow.
The first line, "inishie o," means the past.
The second line, "kouru namida ni," refers to tears shed in longing for the past.
The third line, "kurasarete," uses the passive "ru": darkened by tears.
The fourth line, "oboro ni miyuru," means appearing dim and hazy.
The final line, "aki no yo no tsuki," ends with a noun, presenting the autumn moon that should be clear.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Kintō
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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