This keepsake alone
now has become hateful—
were it not for this,
there might come a time when I
could at last forget you.

Meaning

The keepsake you left behind has now become something hateful; if only this did not exist, there might be a time when I could forget you.

Commentary

119 This Keepsake Alone

There was a certain woman. A fickle man, saying that he wished for something to remember him by, left behind a keepsake.
The poem was composed by the woman as she looked at it.

The suffering of a woman who cannot forget her resentment toward the man is expressed. The keepsake was likely left when the man went off to another woman.
The woman laments that because the keepsake remains, she cannot forget him—or perhaps she continues to hate him.

This poem is also included in the Kokinshū, Book Four of Love, as a poem of unknown authorship.

Source

Ise Monogatari

Other

In close affection you know it not—like white waves at Mizugaki's shore; since ages long ago I began to offer praise.
Like jeweled vines that wind upon many trees— so it has become; your unceasing heart for me brings no sign of joy at all.
In Ōmi, at once let the Tsukuma festival be quickly held— I would see how many pots that cold-hearted one will wear.
Oh, for a hat woven of plum blossoms by the bush warbler— I would place it on the one drenched with rain and send them home in warmth.

This keepsake alone now has become hateful— were it not for this, there might come a time when I could at last forget you.

This keepsake alone
now has become hateful—
were it not for this,
there might come a time when I
could at last forget you.