Shikabakari chigirishi mono o sadame naki sa wa yo no tsune ni omoinase to ya - Izumi Shikibu Nikki(English Translation & Meaning)

しかはかり契りし物を定なき
さはよの常におもひなせとや

Roma-ji: Shikabakari chigirishi mono o sadame naki sa wa yo no tsune ni omoinase to ya
English Translation: After all those vows
that we made to one another,
is it, then, that I
must think it just the common way
of this inconstant world?
Meaning: After all the vows we made, are you telling me to think of it as nothing more than the way of this inconstant world?
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.
After the prince left, Izumi Shikibu sent "Utsutsu nite omoeba iwan kata mo nashi koyoi no koto o yume ni nasabaya," adding this poem in the margin and ending with "How disappointing."
Reading it, the prince wrote, "I meant to write to you first," and replied with "Utsutsu to wa omowazaranan nenuru yo no yume ni mietsuru uki kotodomo o."

The opening lines mean "though we made such vows," with a past-tense auxiliary and an adversative particle, referring to his promise to bring her to his residence. The third line, "inconstant," modifies "the way of the world" that follows.
The lower verses ask "am I then to think it the common way of the world?" with "sa wa," then, and an interrogative particle, after which "do you say" is left unspoken. She presses the prince hard, asking whether she is meant to resign herself to it as the ordinary lot of an impermanent world, and insists on the weight of the vows they exchanged.
Author: Izumi Shikibu
Source: Izumi Shikibu Nikki
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