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Japanese moon poems
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FlyingRat
I love classical Japanese poetry, so thought I would share a few "moon poems" with fellow Lunatics:
While I gaze upon it
I feel a certain distance:
The moon light
Makes its way to dwellings
Everywhere, I feel.
- Ki no Tsurayuki, 872-945
To the fields of heaven,
I lift my gaze;
In Kasuga
Above Mount Mikasa
Appeared the selfsame moon.
- Abe no Nakamaro (700-770), composed while gazing at the moon in China and thinking of home
At the mountain's edge
A darling boy:
The field of heaven
He wades across, his light
A pleasant sight.
- Lady Otomo no Sakanoue, early 700's (a nickname for the moon was "darling boy")
A singular
Thing, it was, I thought, yet
From the water?s depths,
Not from the mountains? peaks,
Comes moonlight.
- Ki no Tsurayuki, on the moon reflected in a pond
As I view the moon,
Many things come into my mind,
And my thoughts are sad;
Yet it's not for me alone,
That the autumn time has come.
- Oe no Chisato
As a general rule
I would not praise the moon:
For it
Piles up on men
The burden of increasing age.
- Ariwara no Narihira (825-880)
I glimpse the moon, and
Suddenly, within my heart
Long ago
Autumn once again
Comes upon me.
- The monk Saigyô
The moon, alone,
Taunts me from the heavens
With memories of you;
Should you feel the same, then
Our hearts would be as one.
- Saigyô
On the sea of the heavens
Waves of cloud arise,
The moon-a boat-
Amongst a forest of stars
Rows on, hidden, or so it seems.
- Anonymous
If you should go,
I?ll say I?m waiting for the moon,
Turning my gaze
Toward the eastern
Evening sky.
- Saigyô, written for a friend who was traveling to a province in the east
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All are from the wonderful 2001 Waka site by Dr. Thomas McAuley, University of Sheffield (http://www.temcauley.staff.shef.ac.uk
Random
good stuff!
Synnie
Thank you from a frequent Japan-visitor 
And yes, the moon is traditionally compaired with a man there, and a rabbit in the moon. . .and a man without emotions and untouched by feelings is no man. . .
(This is coming from Chinese sources, by the way)
(and the sun is a goddess, Amaterasu, the red circle of the flag)
Randomized
Thanks, FlyingRat and welcome to the forum!! 
I also love Japanes style in doing everything! 
Randomized
>>>BUMP<<<
FlyingRat
Thanks (belatedly) for the welcome! Please post more moon poems if you wish.
A couple more:
Every single thing
Changes and is changing
Always in this world.
Yet with the same light
The moon goes on shining.
- Saigyo
By the light of the moon in the water I sit in meditation,
A wide Palace of Cold soaking into smooth, blue grass.
At midnight I rise, turn suddenly around,
And find the perfect circle of moon in the heart of the ripples.
- Gido Shushin
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