わが袖に覚えず月ぞ宿りける
問ふ人あらばいかが答へむ
問ふ人あらばいかが答へむ
- Roma-ji
-
Waga sode ni oboezu tsuki zo yadorikeru tou hito araba ikaga kotaemu
- English Translation
-
Upon my sleeve,
before I knew, the moonlight
has come to dwell;
should anyone ask me why,
how am I to answer?
- Meaning
- Before I knew it, the moon had come to rest upon my sleeve; if anyone should ask me why, how could I answer?
- Commentary
-
Love Poems 520
Headnote: "Love before the moon"
Before he knew it, the moonlight was reflected on a sleeve wet with tears; the poet wonders how he would answer if someone asked the reason, anxious over the tears of a hidden love. The moon lodging on his sleeve shows the tears indirectly.
This poem was included in the Fūga Wakashū.
Line 1 means "on my sleeve."
Line 2 means "unawares, the moon," zo being a binding particle.
Line 3 means "has come to lodge," concluding zo in the attributive form; the moon is mirrored only because the sleeve is wet, implying tears. The poem pauses here.
Line 4 means "if someone should ask."
Line 5 means "how should I answer?" From the awaited moon of the preceding poems, it moves to the moon lodged on a sleeve.
- Author
- Minamoto no Sanetomo
- Source
- Kinkaishu
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