Ko no ma moru katawarezuki no honoka ni mo tare ka waga mi o omoiizubeki - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

木の間洩る片割れ月のほのかにも
誰か我が身を思ひ出づべき

Roma-ji: Ko no ma moru katawarezuki no honoka ni mo tare ka waga mi o omoiizubeki
English Translation: Through the trees it leaks,
the light of the half-moon,
faint as it may be,
who is there who would recall
even for a moment me
Meaning: Like the light of a half-moon leaking faintly through the trees, would anyone remember me even a little? No one will.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 536

Like the light of a half-moon leaking through the trees, who would remember the poet even faintly? No one, he implies. Practicing in the mountains, he entrusts to the pale moonlight among the trees the loneliness of being forgotten even by the people of the capital.
The author, Gyōson, was a son of the Consultant Minamoto no Motohira. A monk of Onjōji who rose to Archbishop, he was also renowned as a mountain ascetic.

First line, 'ko no ma moru', means leaking through the trees.
Second line, 'katawarezuki no', means of the half-moon, a moon waned to half. Up to here forms a preface leading to honoka ni in the third line.
Third line, 'honoka ni mo', means even faintly, overlaying the pale moonlight among the trees with someone faintly remembering.
Fourth line, 'tare ka waga mi o', means who would remember me, the particle ka expressing a rhetorical question answered in the final line.
Final line, 'omoiizubeki', means would remember, that is, no one will, closing with the attributive of beshi in answer to ka in the fourth line.
Author: Gyōson
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
Prev Poem: Kono yo ni wa yama no ha izuru tsuki o nomi matsu koto nite mo yaminubeki kana
Next Poem: Kasugayama mine tsuzuki teru tsukikage ni shirarenu tani no matsu mo arikeri