あな戀しいまも見てしか山賤の
垣ほにおふるやまと撫子
垣ほにおふるやまと撫子
- Roma-ji
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Ana koishi ima mo miteshika yamagatsu no kakiho ni ouru yamato nadeshiko
- English Translation
-
Ah, how I long for you,
how I wish that I might see you—
by the mountain hut,
growing there beside the hedge,
the little Yamato pink
- Meaning
- Ah, how I long for you; if only I could see you now, my wild pink growing by the hedge of a mountain cottage.
- Commentary
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44 The Wild Pink
Even after their exchange about the night he hinted at taking vows, Izumi Shikibu remained deeply sad and could only grieve. Around noon, as she was thinking that she should have made up her mind and gone to his residence sooner, a letter came from the prince.
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.
As if to ease the awkwardness of the night before, the prince sent this poem.
Izumi Shikibu exclaimed, "Oh, how maddening," and replied with "Koishiku wa kite mo miyo kashi chihayaburu kami no isamuru michi naranaku ni."
This poem borrows almost word for word an anonymous poem in the fourth Love section of the Kokin Wakashū, which says: ah, how I long for it, if only I could see it now, the wild pink blooming by the hedge of a mountain dweller's home.
The opening lines mean "ah, how I long for you; if only I could see you now," with an exclamation and a particle of one's own wish.
The remaining lines name "the Yamato pink growing by the hedge of a mountain dweller," the mountain dweller being a humble villager and the hedge a fence; "nadeshiko," the wild pink, also suggests "a beloved child," and stands for Izumi Shikibu. By borrowing the old poem almost unchanged, he conveys his longing more simply than in words of his own, seeking to soften her heart after the heavy talk of the night before.
- Author
- Prince Atsumichi
- Source
- Izumi Shikibu Nikki
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Hodo shiranu inochi bakari zo sadame naki chigirishi koto wa suminoe no matsu
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Koishiku wa kite mo miyo kashi chihayaburu kami no isamuru michi naranaku ni