月夜には来ぬ人待たるかき曇り
雨も降らなむわびつつも寝む
雨も降らなむわびつつも寝む
- Roma-ji
-
Tsukiyo ni wa konu hito mataru kakikumori ame mo furanamu wabitsutsu mo nemu
- English Translation
-
On a moonlit night
I find myself still waiting
for one who won't come;
let the clouds close in and rain,
then, grieving, I'll go to sleep
- Meaning
- On moonlit nights I cannot help waiting for someone who will not come. Let the sky cloud over and the rain fall, and then, grieving as I am, I will go to sleep.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 775
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
On a beautiful moonlit night the speaker cannot help waiting for someone who will not come, and so wishes it would rain and force her to give up. If it rained, his absence would seem only natural; the poem sharply captures this wish to escape the pain of waiting.
The first line, "on moonlit nights," names the nights when lovers were most likely to visit.
In the second line ru is spontaneous: "one finds oneself waiting" even for one who will not come. The poem breaks here.
The third line means the sky clouding over completely; kaki is a prefix.
In the fourth line namu expresses a wish for something beyond oneself: "let it rain."
In the last line wabitsutsu mo means "even grieving," and nemu expresses intent: I will at least sleep. She looks to the rain for an excuse to stop waiting.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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