今宵我桂の里の月を見て
思ひ残せることのなきかな
思ひ残せることのなきかな
- Roma-ji
-
Koyoi ware katsura no sato no tsuki o mite omoi nokoseru koto no naki kana
- English Translation
-
On this night, I
in the village of Katsura
gaze upon the moon,
and nothing is left in me
that I would wish for still
- Meaning
- Tonight, gazing at the moon from the village of Katsura, I have nothing left to wish for.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 191
Tonight, gazing at the bright moon from the village of Katsura, the poet feels he has nothing more to wish for. Since legend holds that a katsura tree grows on the moon, the poem expresses the joy of viewing the moon from a village bearing that name.
The author lived at Katsura and was called the Katsura Counselor. Linking the name of his home with the katsura of the moon, he sings of how special the moon is when seen there.
From poem 174 through poem 217 in this book a long sequence of moon poems follows, from the evening moon through the bright moon of the fifteenth night of the Eighth Month to the moon at dawn, singing of the moon in all its aspects and of the heart that gazes on it.
The author, Tsunenobu, is Minamoto no Tsunenobu. A son of Minamoto no Michikata, he rose to Major Counselor and was called the Katsura Counselor. In his last years he died at his post as Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu. He was the father of the compiler, Minamoto no Toshiyori.
First line, 'koyoi ware', means tonight I, setting the poet himself as the one who gazes.
Second line, 'katsura no sato no', is the village of Katsura in Yamashiro, a name evoking the katsura tree said to grow on the moon.
Third line, 'tsuki o mite', means gazing at the moon.
Fourth line, 'omoi nokoseru', means left unfulfilled, ru being the attributive form of the continuative ri.
Final line, 'koto no naki kana', means there is nothing, the exclamatory kana expressing a heart fully satisfied.
- Author
- Minamoto no Tsunenobu
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Ika ni shite shigarami kakemu amanogawa nagaruru tsuki ya shibashi yodomu to
- Next Poem
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Kumori naki kage o todomeba yamanoha ni iru tomo tsuki o oshimazaramashi