Meet the Poets of Hyakunin Isshu
Sosei Hōshi

Meaning

Just because you said "I will come right away" — I waited all night for you, watching the moon of the long autumn month until it set at dawn.

Commentary

This poem was composed as a "topic poem" — written in response to a given theme rather than from personal experience. Though Sōsei Hōshi was a man, he wrote from a woman's perspective.

The "moon that lingers until dawn" (ariake no tsuki) is the moon that remains in the sky through the night until morning breaks. The poem captures a woman who waits and waits for her lover, and finds that without realising it, the night has turned to day.

Learn more