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This is a well known haiku: Meigetsu ya Ike wo megurite Yo mo sugara

I cannot understand the meaning and grammatical form of "sugara". Is it from "sugaru" (to finish)? Why does it end in "a"?

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  • Thank you. I could not find this word in my dictionary of Classical Japanese.
    – Ned
    Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 1:44

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In this context, すがら roughly means "throughout". Therefore, 夜{よ}もすがら means something like "throughout the night" or "all night long".

So, the subject of the haiku was walking around the pond the entire autumn night.

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