Otsuru namida wa ame to koso fure - Izumi Shikibu Nikki(English Translation & Meaning)

おつるなみたは雨とこそふれ

Roma-ji: Otsuru namida wa ame to koso fure
English Translation: the tears that fall from me
come down as the falling rain
Meaning: ...the tears that fall from my eyes come pouring down as rain.
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, the prince offered the upper verse "Naozari no aramashigoto ni yomosugara," and Izumi Shikibu answered by adding this lower verse.
The prince spoke of many more uneasy things than usual and went home at dawn. Izumi Shikibu, thinking that she had resolved to go, unreliable as it was, at least to ease her loneliness, was left wondering what she should do now.

This lower verse completes the short linked verse begun by the prince. "The tears that fall" answers his "all the long night through," showing that she had wept the whole night.
"Come down as rain" is sealed by an emphatic construction. Overlaying the sleety rain that fell that night with her own tears, she answers the prince, who called his talk mere idle speculation, that for her it is a sorrow as deep as this, entrusting her reply to the scene.
Author: Izumi Shikibu
Source: Izumi Shikibu Nikki
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