Even if unseen,
I cannot think we are apart;
for there is no time
when you are ever forgot—
your form stands before my eyes.

Meaning

Even though we do not meet, I cannot think that we are apart. There is no moment when I forget you; your form rises before my eyes.

Commentary

Episode Forty-Six: "Even if unseen"

A certain man had a most intimate friend. They were scarcely ever separated, but circumstances required one of them to leave the capital and go to the provinces. They parted with deep sorrow and longing.
After much time had passed, the man in the provinces wrote, "Though many months have gone by without our meeting, people in the world say that when one does not meet, one forgets. I am troubled, wondering whether I too have been forgotten."
This poem was composed in reply.

Though they are described as close friends, the tone of the letter and the poem may even suggest a bond akin to romantic attachment.

Source

Ise Monogatari

Other

Firefly going forth, if you can pass above up to the clouded sky, then tell the wild geese that now the autumn wind is blowing.
On a summer day that is slow to fall to dusk, as I gaze all day, without any single cause all things grow sad to me.
Like a great sacred wand, Drawn by many reaching hands— So you have become; Though I think of you with love, I cannot rely on you.
A great sacred wand— So you have named me indeed; Though I drift away, Even one borne down the stream At last will find a shallows.

Even if unseen, I cannot think we are apart; for there is no time when you are ever forgot— your form stands before my eyes.

Even if unseen,
I cannot think we are apart;
for there is no time
when you are ever forgot—
your form stands before my eyes.