Yo to tomo ni mono omou hito wa yoru tote mo uchitokete me no au toki mo nashi - Izumi Shikibu Nikki(English Translation & Meaning)

よと共に物思ふ人は夜とても
うちとけてめのあふ時もなし

Roma-ji: Yo to tomo ni mono omou hito wa yoru tote mo uchitokete me no au toki mo nashi
English Translation: For one who ever
broods in sorrow, there is no time,
even in the night,
when eyes can close in peaceful rest
and meet as lovers meet
Meaning: For one who is always lost in sorrow, there is no time, even at night, when the eyes can meet in restful sleep.
Commentary: 6 The Night Before the Pilgrimage

Two or three days after the exchange on the last day of the fourth month, the prince came secretly to Izumi Shikibu. She was about to set out on a pilgrimage and was keeping a period of purification; besides, she thought his visits were so rare because his feelings were not deep, and that he had come only so as not to seem unkind. So she did not speak with him with any particular intimacy, and pleading her devotions to the Buddha, she let the night pass.
The woman is Izumi Shikibu, daughter of Ōe no Masamune and, as the wife of Tachibana no Michisada, Governor of Izumi, mother of Koshikibu no Naishi. The Prince of the Dazaifu is Prince Atsumichi, fourth son of Emperor Reizei, so called because he served as Governor-General of the Dazaifu.
The next morning the prince's "Isa ya mada kakaru omoi o shiranu kana aite mo awade akuru mono to wa" arrived, with the words "I am astonished." Feeling sorry that he must indeed have been astonished, Izumi Shikibu sent back this poem.
After the poem she added that she did not find it extraordinary at all. The following day the prince wrote asking whether she was leaving on her pilgrimage that day, when she would return, and how anxious he would be, and she answered with "Orisugiba sate mo koso yame samidare no koyoi ayame no ne o ya kakemashi."

The opening lines mean "one who is always lost in thought," and the third line "even at night."
The lower verses mean "there is no time when the eyes meet at ease," the meeting of the eyelids meaning sleep. The word "meet" also suggests the meeting of lovers, answering the prince's "meet yet never meet": for one whose sorrow never ends, she says, neither love nor sleep comes peacefully.
Author: Izumi Shikibu
Source: Izumi Shikibu Nikki
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