見ずもあらず見もせぬ人の恋しくは
あやなく今日やながめ暮らさむ
あやなく今日やながめ暮らさむ
- Roma-ji
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Mizu mo arazu mi mo senu hito no koishiku wa
ayanaku kyō ya nagame kurasamu - English Translation
-
Not that I saw you,
Yet not that I saw you not—
Still you are dear to me;
Without cause today perhaps
I gaze on and pass the day.
- Meaning
- It is not that I did not see you, yet neither did I clearly see you. Still I long for you, and today perhaps I will spend the whole day gazing in that direction for no reason.
- Commentary
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99. Not That I Did Not See
On a day when a trial of horseback archery was held at Ukon no Baba, there was a woman in a carriage on the opposite side. Her face could faintly be seen through the gap in the bamboo blind.
The poem was composed and sent by a man who was a Middle Captain after he saw this.
It is a frank poem of courtship, saying that because of a woman he did not even clearly see, he has become so concerned with her that he cannot do anything all day.
The Middle Captain was Ariwara no Narihira.
- Source
- Ise Monogatari
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Waga tanomu kimi ga tame ni to oru hana wa
toki shi mo wakanu mono ni zo arikeru - Next Poem
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Shiru shiranu nani ka ayanaku wakite iwamu
omoi nomi koso shirube narikere