なをさりのあらましことに夜もすから
- Roma-ji
-
Naozari no aramashigoto ni yomosugara
- English Translation
-
Over idle words,
mere talk of what might someday be,
all the long night through
- Meaning
- All night long, over mere idle talk of what might one day happen...
- Commentary
-
43 The Night He Spoke of Taking Vows
On the night of their exchange about the frosty morning, the prince came to Izumi Shikibu and spoke idly as usual, but then he said forlornly, "If, after I have taken you there, I were to go elsewhere or become a monk and no longer see you, would you think it a betrayal?" Wondering how his intentions had changed, and whether such a thing might really happen, she grew very sad and wept. As sleet fell quietly, the prince did not doze for a moment but went on speaking of moving things, not only of this life but of lives to come. She had made up her mind, she thought, to go into what was little better than unexpected service because he disliked nothing about her and she wished to show him her heart; but if things went this way, she would only end up taking vows herself, as she had long wished. Overcome with sorrow, she said nothing and only grieved.
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.
Seeing her grieve in silence at his talk of taking vows, the prince offered this upper verse.
Izumi Shikibu at once added the lower verse "Otsuru namida wa ame to koso fure." The prince spoke of many more uneasy things than usual and went home at dawn.
This upper verse is the first half of a short linked verse that the prince began and Izumi Shikibu completed with the lower half. The first line, "idle," means not serious, as the prince treats his own words lightly.
The second and third lines mean "over talk of what might be, all through the night," the talk being speculation about what might happen. Though he insists that his talk of taking vows is merely hypothetical, he is concerned at her tears and, as if asking about them, leaves the lower verse to her.
- Author
- Prince Atsumichi
- Source
- Izumi Shikibu Nikki
- Prev Poem
-
Yuki mo furi ame mo furinuru kono koro o asashimo to nomi okiite wa miru
- Next Poem
-
Otsuru namida wa ame to koso fure