宿からぞ月の光もまさりける
世の曇りなくすめばなりけり
世の曇りなくすめばなりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Yado kara zo tsuki no hikari mo masarikeru yo no kumori naku sumeba narikeri
- English Translation
-
It is by the house
that the moonlight comes to shine
more brightly than before,
because the master dwells here
clear of the clouds of the world
- Meaning
- It is because of the house that the moonlight shines brighter: its master dwells here free from the clouds of the world, and so the moon too shines clear.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 201
The moonlight seems especially bright because of the house itself; its master lives free from the stains of the world, and so the moon too shines clear. Linking the moon's brightness to the master's virtue, the poem carries praise for the host.
It is set among the poems on the moon of Kasuga that continue from the preceding poem, 200, and the next poem, 202, also sings of moonlight growing brighter.
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.
First line, 'yado kara zo', uses kara for cause: it is because of the house. The particle zo binds with the attributive keru that follows.
Second line, 'tsuki no hikari mo', means the moonlight too.
Third line, 'masarikeru', means it shines brighter, I find. The poem breaks after the third line. Like 'why the light grows brighter' in the next poem, 202, it sings of the moon's increasing brightness.
Fourth line, 'yo no kumori naku', means without the clouds of the world, overlaying the master's untroubled heart with the cloudless moon.
Final line, 'sumeba narikeri', is a pivot word in which sumu means both for the master to dwell purely and for the moon to shine clear, revealing the reason for the upper half.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Mikasayama hikari o sashite ideshi yori kumorade akenu aki no yo no tsuki
- Next Poem
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Ika nareba aki wa hikari no masaruramu onaji mikasa no yamanoha no tsuki