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月見ばと契をきてしふるさとの人もやこよひ袖ぬらすらん
| tsuki miba to chigiri okiteshi furusato no hito mo ya koyoi sode nurasuran | ‘When we see the moon…’ We made our vow; Left at home Does she, too, on this night Have soaking sleeves, I wonder? |
The Monk Saigyō
西行
missing shi, okite shi….
Thanks for spotting this. I’ve corrected it.
Hello, the conventions of poetic travel are that the man is the traveler and the woman is waiting at home. The vow, of course, is to think of the other when either sees the moon. This has to be left at home does SHE too have soaking sleeves–does she miss me?
I entirely agree that this is the conventional reading of the poem, and so I’ve corrected the translation, above – thank you for pointing it out. Just to play devil’s advocate, though, given what’s known about the relationships between monks and chigo, an alternate meaning might not be impossible, as the poem lacks any indicators of gender.