天雲のよそにのみしてふることは
わがゐる山の風はやみなり
わがゐる山の風はやみなり
- Roma-ji
-
Amagumo no yoso ni nomi shite furu koto wa
waga iru yama no kaze hayami nari - English Translation
-
Like clouds in heaven,
kept only at a distance,
all this while—
it is the wind upon the mountain
where you dwell that blows so hard.
- Meaning
- Like clouds in the sky, kept only at a distance all this while—it is the wind upon the mountain where you dwell that blows so fiercely.
- Commentary
-
Episode Nineteen: "Like clouds in heaven"
While serving at a lady’s residence, a man became intimate with one of the women in attendance, but before long they parted.
The man had entirely lost interest in her, yet she still retained lingering feelings.
This poem is the man’s reply to her poem, "Like clouds in heaven, does he become a distant one, far beyond my reach? And yet, for all that, he remains before my eyes."
In his reply, the man suggests that she has relations with others besides himself.
Perhaps he lost interest in her because he cherished an ideal of purity.
- Source
- Ise Monogatari
- Other
-
- The white chrysanthemums that glow in crimson hue— are they, perhaps, the layered sleeves of the one who plucked them?
- Like clouds in heaven, does he become a distant one, far beyond my reach? And yet, for all that, he remains before my eyes.
- For you, my lady, the branch I have broken off— though it is but spring, thus has it taken on an autumn’s crimson leaves.
- If I go forth and leave, they will say my heart is light— so it may be said; for people do not know the way of this world between us.