Long ago perhaps
Such a thing may have been said—
Only now I know:
To love someone unseen yet,
One whom I have never met.

Meaning

Perhaps such a thing existed long ago, but only now have I come to know it: that one may fall in love with someone whom one has never even met.

Commentary

111. One Never Yet Seen

There was a certain man. Someone in the household of a high-ranking woman had died.
The poem was composed by the man and sent as if in mourning for the deceased.

It was likely a maid or a relative of the woman who had died. Using this as a pretext, the man sent a poem to a woman he had never met, saying in effect that he had fallen in love with her. It does not seem a very sincere approach.

The poem is included in the Shin Chokusen Wakashū as a poem by an anonymous poet.

Source

Ise Monogatari

Other

More than the blossoms, People have proved more fickle— So it has become. Which would I see first to fade, And then long for in my heart?
My longing so deep, Perhaps my soul has gone forth Out from my own body. If late at night you should see it, Bind my soul and hold it fast.
As a sign they say The cord beneath should come loose When one is loved so. Yet my under-cord stays tied— So you cannot love as said.
That I long for you Never again will I say. When the under-cord Comes undone, let people know That alone will tell my love.

Long ago perhaps Such a thing may have been said— Only now I know: To love someone unseen yet, One whom I have never met.

Long ago perhaps
Such a thing may have been said—
Only now I know:
To love someone unseen yet,
One whom I have never met.