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Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
清原深養父
夏の夜は
まだ宵ながら
あけぬるを
雲のいづこに
月やどるらむ
くものいつ
こにつきや
とるらむ
なつ
- Poem 36
- 夏の夜は
まだ宵ながら
あけぬるを
雲のいづこに 月やどるらむ
Author: Kiyohara no Fukayabu (dates unknown)
Source: Kokin Wakashū, Summer
- English Verse Translation
- Too short the lovely summer night, Too soon 'tis passed away; I watched to see behind which cloud
The moon would chance to stay, And here's the dawn of day!
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- On a summer night, the day has already dawned while it still feels like early evening. Where in the clouds is the moon hiding?
- Commentary
- This poem expresses regret at the moon setting during the brief summer night. The way it wonders behind which cloud the moon has hidden itself is full of a charm that feels almost like stepping into a fantasy world. It is a truly lovely poem, conveying boundless affection and reluctance to part with the moon as it sinks toward the western sky on a fleeting summer night.
- About the Poet
- Kiyohara no Fukayabu was a descendant of Emperor Tenmu, but never rose to a high rank in his lifetime. He was the great-grandfather of Sei Shōnagon, who likewise wrote in The Pillow Book, "In summer, the nights — especially moonlit ones, of course," sharing her ancestor's appreciation for the summer moon. He was also on friendly terms with Fujiwara no Kanesuke, Ki no Tsurayuki, and Ōshikōchi no Mitsune.
- Kiyohara no Fukayabu's Chart of the Heart
-
A chart and a modern-language reflection of the poet's inner feelings.
The Poet's Feelings (A Personal Interpretation)
The short summer night
is over before I know it.I couldn't even see the moon off —
only its lingering trace stays in my heart.
- Poem Illustration
-
This image is based on an illustration from William N. Porter's A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, his 1909 English translation of the Hyakunin Isshu published in England, colorized and reworked using Adobe Firefly (generative AI).