さらぬだに玉にまがひて置く露を
いとど磨ける秋の夜の月
いとど磨ける秋の夜の月
- Roma-ji
-
Saranu dani tama ni magaite oku tsuyu o itodo migakeru aki no yo no tsuki
- English Translation
-
Even as it is,
mistaken for a jewel,
the dew lying there
is polished brighter still
by the moon of the autumn night
- Meaning
- The dew already lies there looking like jewels, and the moon of the autumn night polishes it brighter still.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 209
The dew already lies on the grass as beautiful as jewels, and the moonlight of the autumn night polishes it to an even brighter shine. To the traditional conceit of likening dew to jewels, the poem adds the gleam of moonlight.
From poem 227 in this book, poems on the white dew follow, singing of its beauty in various ways.
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, Nakamasa, is Minamoto no Nakamasa. A son of Minamoto no Yoritsuna, he rose to Head of the Arsenal Bureau. He was the father of Minamoto no Yorimasa and was active as a poet from the reign of Emperor Horikawa.
First line, 'saranu dani', means even when it is not so, implying even without the moonlight.
Second line, 'tama ni magaite', uses magau, to resemble so closely as to be confused: the dew mistaken for jewels.
Third line, 'oku tsuyu o', means the dew lying on the grass.
Fourth line, 'itodo migakeru', means polishing it all the more, an associated word with tama, jewel; ru is the attributive form of the continuative ri.
Final line, 'aki no yo no tsuki', ends on a noun, the same final line as poems 177, 188 and 200 in this book.
- Author
- Minamoto no Nakamasa
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Tsukikage no sasu ni makasete yuku fune wa akashi no ura ya tomari naruramu
- Next Poem
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Yo to tomo ni kumoranu kumo no ue nareba omou koto naku tsuki o miru kana