眺むれば覚えぬことも無かりけり
月や昔の形見なるらむ
月や昔の形見なるらむ
- Roma-ji
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Nagamureba oboenu koto mo nakarikeri tsuki ya mukashi no katami naruramu
- English Translation
-
As I gaze on it,
there is nothing from the past
that I do not recall;
could it be the moon is
a keepsake of bygone days
- Meaning
- As I gaze at the moon, there is nothing from the past that does not come back to me. Could the moon be a keepsake of days gone by?
- Commentary
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Book Three Autumn Poems 212
Gazing at the moon, the poet finds memories of the past returning one after another, until there is nothing he does not recall, and he wonders whether the moon is a keepsake of former times. The poem expresses nostalgia in which looking at the moon calls up the past.
It is a nostalgic poem that recalls Ariwara no Narihira's lament in the Tales of Ise asking whether the moon and the spring are no longer as they were. The word katami, keepsake, also appears in poem 255 in this book.
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, 'nagamureba', means as I gaze, ba after the realis form giving a definite condition.
Second line, 'oboenu koto mo', means things not called to mind.
Third line, 'nakarikeri', means there were none, closing with the exclamatory keri. The poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, 'tsuki ya mukashi no', means is the moon the past's, and the particle ya binds with ramu in the final line.
Final line, 'katami naruramu', uses katami, a keepsake recalling the past: could it be a keepsake? The word also appears in poem 255 in this book.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Matsu ga ne ni koromo katashiki yomosugara nagamuru tsuki o imo miruramu ka
- Next Poem
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Morotomo ni itsu to wa nashi ni ariake no tsuki nomi okuru yamaji o zo yuku