Haruka naru tabi no sora ni mo okureneba urayamashiki wa aki no yo no tsuki - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

はるかなる旅の空にも後れねば
羨ましきは秋の夜の月

Roma-ji: Haruka naru tabi no sora ni mo okureneba urayamashiki wa aki no yo no tsuki
English Translation: Even to the sky
of a journey far away
it never lags behind,
and so it is the moon of
autumn night that I envy
Meaning: Even into the sky of a far-off journey it never falls behind; how I envy the moon of the autumn night.
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 340

Since it can follow the traveler without falling behind even into the sky of a distant journey, the moon of the autumn night is what the poet envies. By envying the moon that accompanies the traveler anywhere, the poem conveys the pain of a parting in which the poet cannot follow.
Some manuscripts name Minamoto no Tamenari as the author and give the headnote 'When Minamoto no Kinsada went down as Governor of Ōsumi, regretting the parting on a night when the moon was bright.' It would then be a poem regretting the departure of Kinsada to his province, set against the bright moon.
Where poem 337 in this book was the thought of one left behind for the traveler, this poem envies the moon that never falls behind him.

First line, 'haruka naru', means far-off.
Second line, 'tabi no sora ni mo', means even in the sky of the journey, suggesting the road to a distant province.
Third line, 'okureneba', means since it does not lag behind, the realis of the negative zu with ba forming a definite condition. It contrasts with the first line 'okure ite', left behind, of poem 337 in this book.
Fourth line, 'urayamashiki wa', means what I envy.
Final line, 'aki no yo no tsuki', is the moon of an autumn night, closing with a noun. The moon also appears in 'the sinking moon' in poem 348 in this book.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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