classic waka stream

たらちねのいさめしものをつれづれと
ながむるをだに問ふ人もなし
Roma-ji

Tarachine no isameshi mono o tsurezure to nagamuru o dani tou hito mo nashi

English Translation
My mother warned me
against it once, and yet now
that idly I sit
and gaze out, lost in brooding,
no one even comes to ask.
Meaning
My mother once warned me against it, yet now, as I sit idly gazing out lost in thought, no one even asks after me.
Commentary
Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1812

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the second of the poems on the bonds between those close to one another. Her mother once admonished her, but now, as she idly gazes out lost in thought, no one even asks. Thinking of her late mother, she laments the loneliness of having no one who cares for her. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Izumi Shikibu," was the daughter of Ōe no Masamune. She took her name from her marriage to Tachibana no Michisada, Governor of Izumi. Known for her love affairs with Prince Tametaka and Prince Atsumichi, she later served Jōtōmon-in Shōshi. No author is named in the original; the attribution continues from the preceding poem.

The first line, "tarachine no," is properly a pillow word for "mother," but here refers to the mother herself. Poem 1815 of this book also sings of "tarachine."
The second line, "isameshi mono o," means "though she admonished me." "Shi" is the attributive of the past "ki," and "mono o" a concessive sigh.
The third line, "tsurezure to," means "idly, with nothing to do."
The fourth line, "nagamuru o dani," means "even my gazing out in brooding." "Dani" marks the least of things.
The last line, "tou hito mo nashi," means "there is no one to ask." It closes with the loneliness that no one now cares about the brooding her mother once scolded.
Author
Izumi Shikibu
Source
Shin Kokin Wakashu
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