Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
やすらはで
Akazome Emon · 赤染衛門
やすらはで
寝なましものを
小夜更けて
傾くまでの
月を見しかな
Historical kana
やすらはで
ねなましものを
さよふけて
かたぶくまでの
つきをみしかな
Original English translation
I could have slept without hesitation; instead I watched the moon sink as the night grew late.
History and context
Akazome Emon’s poem speaks through the situation of an expected visitor who never arrives. The Goshuishū headnote presents it as composed on another person’s behalf, reminding readers that poetic speakers are constructed.
Imagery and wordplay
The sinking moon measures wasted wakefulness. The opening imagines the peaceful night that did not happen.
Goshuishū · 後拾遺集恋二680
Japanese text and historical kana follow the linked Wikisource transcription. Classical poems can have variant spellings and wording in different anthologies. The source anthology reference identifies the version represented in this collection, not necessarily its earliest surviving text. English prose translations and reading notes are original interpretations; some wordplay permits more than one reading.