Nagamureba koishiki hito no koishiki ni kumoraba kumore aki no yo no tsuki - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

眺むれば恋しき人の恋しきに
曇らば曇れ秋の夜の月

Roma-ji: Nagamureba koishiki hito no koishiki ni kumoraba kumore aki no yo no tsuki
English Translation: When I gaze on you,
the one I long for grows
still more dear to me,
so cloud over if you will,
O moon of the autumn night
Meaning: When I gaze at you, the one I love becomes ever dearer; so if you would cloud over, then cloud over, moon of the autumn night.
Commentary: Book Seven Love Poems I 369

Gazing at the autumn moon only makes the poet long all the more for the beloved, so he calls on the moon to cloud over if it will. By the paradox of rejecting the lovely moon, the poem shows the strength of his longing.
Some manuscripts name Fujiwara no Motomitsu as the author and give the headnote 'Composed on love before the moon.' It would then be a poem on that topic.
Poems 371 and 414 in this book also sing of the moon in connection with love.

First line, 'nagamureba', means when I gaze, the realis with ba forming a definite condition.
Second line, 'koishiki hito no', means the one I long for. It is the same as the fourth line of poem 356 in this book.
Third line, 'koishiki ni', means grows so dear, repeating koishiki after the second line to show longing mounting.
Fourth line, 'kumoraba kumore', means if you would cloud, then cloud, repeating the verb to show strong feeling.
Final line, 'aki no yo no tsuki', names the moon being addressed, closing with a noun.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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