いかなれば秋は光のまさるらむ
同じ三笠の山の端の月
同じ三笠の山の端の月
- Roma-ji
-
Ika nareba aki wa hikari no masaruramu onaji mikasa no yamanoha no tsuki
- English Translation
-
Why should it be so
that in autumn its light shines
brighter than before,
the same moon that always comes
over Mount Mikasa's rim
- Meaning
- Why does its light shine brighter in autumn, when it is the same moon that always rises over the rim of Mount Mikasa?
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 202
Though it is always the same moon rising over the rim of Mount Mikasa, why does its light grow brighter in autumn? The poem praises the special beauty of the autumn moon in the form of a question.
The author was a monk of Kōfukuji, closely tied to the Kasuga Shrine, and sings with affection of the moon over Mount Mikasa. With poem 200 in this book and the next poem, 203, it stands among the poems on the moon of Mount Mikasa.
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, Eien, was a son of Fujiwara no Nagasuke and a monk of Kōfukuji. He rose to Provisional Archbishop and, for his poems on the cuckoo, was called the Archbishop of the First Song.
First line, 'ika nareba', means why, a question answered by ramu in the third line.
Second line, 'aki wa hikari no', means in autumn its light, comparing autumn with other seasons.
Third line, 'masaruramu', means does it grow brighter, ramu conjecturing the cause. The poem breaks after the third line. Like 'shines brighter' in the preceding poem, 201, it sings of the moon's increasing brightness.
Fourth line, 'onaji mikasa no', means the same Mount Mikasa whatever the season; Mount Mikasa appears also in poems 200 and 203 in this book.
Final line, 'yamanoha no tsuki', ends on a noun, the moon rising over the mountain's rim.
- Author
- Yoen
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Yado kara zo tsuki no hikari mo masarikeru yo no kumori naku sumeba narikeri
- Next Poem
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Mikasayama morikuru tsuki no kiyokereba kami no kokoro mo sumi ya shinuramu