iwa ga ne no koke no makura ni tsuyu okite iku yo miyama no tsuki ni nenuran
At the crags’ foot With moss for my pillow, and Awake until the dewfall, How many nights in the mountain deeps Have I slept beneath the moon.[i]
580
[i] See: On the conception of seeing the moon while travelling, while at a place called the Barrier Gate Hall. 草枕ほどぞへにける都いでていくよかたびの月にねぬらむ kusamakura / hodo zo henikeru / miyako idete / ikuyo ka tabi no / tsuki ni nenuramu ‘Grassy pillows / For a while have been my lot! / Since departing the capital / For some days on my travels / Will I sleep beneath the moon.’ Ōe no Yoshitoki (Shinkokinshū X: 931)
hitori fusu kusa no makura no tsuyu no ue ni shiranu nobara no tsuki o miru kana
Lying alone Upon a grassy pillow Within the dew on This unknown plain I glimpse the moon.[i]
579
[i] See: Composed on the moon above the mountains. あしびきの山ぢのこけの露のうへにねざめ夜ぶかき月を見るかな ashibiki no / yamaji no koke no / tsuyu no ue ni / nezame yobukaki / tsuki o miru kana ‘Resting upon leg-wearying / Mountain trails’ moss / Atop the dew / I awoke late at night / And glimpsed the moon.’ Fujiwara no Hideyoshi (Shinkokinshū IV: 398): and: Composed as a travel poem. けふは又しらぬ野ばらに行きくれぬいづれの山か月はいづらん kyō wa mata / shiranu nobara ni / yukikurenu / izure no yama ka / tsuki wa izuran ‘Today, once more / Across an unknown plain /I go at sundown; / Which will be the mountain / Where the moon does rise?’ Minamoto no Ienaga (Shinkokinshū X: 956)
tabigoromo uraganashikaru yūgure no susono no tsuyu ni akikaze zo fuku
In my traveller’s garb and Sick at heart Of an evening, as Across the meadows on the slopes dewdrops Drift upon the autumn wind! [i]
575
[i] See: 旅ごろもうらがなしさにあかしかね草の枕は夢もむすばず tabigoromo / uraganashisa ni / akashikane / kusa no makura wa / yume mo musabazu ‘In my traveller’s garb / My heart-sickness / I cannot lift, for / My grassy pillow / Brings no dreams, at all…’ Hikaru Genji (Genji monogatari 223); and: たびごろもうらがなしかるあさぢふによはのしぐれよいかにせよとぞ tabigoromo / uraganashikaru / asajū ni / yowa no shigure yo / ika ni seyo to zo ‘In my traveller’s garb and / Sad at heart among / The clumps of cogon grass, / O, midnight shower, / Tell me, what I am I to do?’ Jakuchō (Sumiyoshi-sha uta’awase kaō ni-nen 54)
