いとかくてやみぬるよりは稲妻の
光の間にも君を見てしか
光の間にも君を見てしか
- Roma-ji
-
Ito kakute yaminuru yori wa inazuma no hikari no ma ni mo kimi o miteshi ka
- English Translation
-
Rather than have it
end in darkness just like this,
if only for the flash
of a single lightning bolt,
I long to see you once
- Meaning
- Rather than let it all end like this in darkness, I long to see you, even if only for the instant of a lightning flash.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Love Poems IV 883
Headnote: "Sent when Michikaze had been visiting her in secret and her parents, hearing of it, forbade it."
The poet says that rather than let it end like this, she would see him even for the flash of lightning. Likening a love cut off by her parents to darkness, she voices an urgent wish to see him, if only for an instant.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent when Ono no Michikaze had been coming to her in secret and her parents, hearing of it, forbade it. 879 in this book is a poem Michikaze sent to Taifu when she was near Uzumasa.
The poet, Taifu, was a lady-in-waiting whose origins are not clear. She is known for exchanging love poems with Ono no Michikaze, Fujiwara no Asatada, Fujiwara no Atsutada, and others.
The first line, "Ito kakute," means "truly, just like this."
The second line, "yaminuru yori wa," means "rather than let it end," with "yami" echoing both "ending" and "darkness," contrasting with "inazuma," lightning, in the third line.
The third line, "inazuma no," means "of lightning," a figure for a fleeting instant.
The fourth line, "hikari no ma ni mo," means "even for the moment of its flash," contrasting light with "yami" in the second line.
The last line, "kimi o miteshi ka," means "I long to see you," with "teshi ka" expressing a wish.
- Author
- Taifu
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Kyō soe ni kurezarame ya wa to omoedomo taenu wa hito no kokoro narikeri
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Itazura ni tachikaerinishi shiranami no nagori ni sode no hiru toki mo nashi