Chidori naku saho no kawara no tsuki kiyomi koromode samushi yo ya fukenuramu

千鳥鳴く佐保の川原の月清み
衣手寒し夜や更けぬらむ

Roma-ji: Chidori naku saho no kawara no tsuki kiyomi koromode samushi yo ya fukenuramu
English Translation: Where the plovers cry
on the riverbanks of Saho,
so clear is the moon
that my sleeves have grown cold—
has the night grown late, I wonder?
Meaning: On the riverbanks of Saho, where the plovers cry, the moon is so clear that my sleeves feel cold—has the night grown late already?
Commentary: Winter Poems 341

Headnote: "Winter moon by a river"
This poem was composed on the theme of the winter moon by a river. On the riverbanks of Saho where plovers cry, the moon shines clear, its cold light chilling his sleeves, and the poet wonders whether the night has grown late. Layering the plovers' cries, the moonlight, and the cold of his sleeves, he portrays a winter night by the river.
The Teika text gives line 5 as yo ya fukenikemu.

Line 1, "where the plovers cry," is a winter image adorning the Saho riverbanks, anticipating the plover poems that begin at 351.
Line 2 names the riverbanks of the Saho in Yamato. It is the same as line 4 of 181 in Book Three: on the same riverbanks where autumn's first wind blew, the winter moon now shines.
Line 3 uses mi to show cause, "because the moon is clear." After the moon on a pond and on a lake in the two preceding poems, this sings the moon on a river.
Line 4 means "my sleeves are cold," and the poem pauses here. It is the same as line 2 of 181 in Book Three.
Line 5 concludes ya with ramu, wondering whether the night has grown late.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
Prev Poem: Hira no yama yamakaze samumi karasaki no nio no mizuumi tsuki zo kōreru
Next Poem: Sayo fukete kumoma no tsuki no kage mireba sode ni shirarenu shimo zo okikeru