冬のよはこひしきことにめもあはて
衣かたしき明そしにける
衣かたしき明そしにける
- Roma-ji
-
Fuyu no yo wa koishiki koto ni me mo awade koromo katashiki ake zo shinikeru
- English Translation
-
On this winter night,
so full of longing for you, I
could not close my eyes,
and lying on my sleeve alone
I saw the dawn come round
- Meaning
- On this winter night, longing for you, I could not close my eyes, and lying alone on half my robe, I watched the night turn to dawn.
- Commentary
-
46 Winter Nights
The day after their exchange about the snowy branch, early in the morning, a poem 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.
Having spent the winter night alone, unable to sleep for thinking of her, the prince sent this poem early that morning.
Izumi Shikibu wrote, "Well, indeed," and replied with "Fuyu no yo wa me sae kōri ni tojirarete akashigataki o akashikeru kana."
The opening lines mean "on a winter night, for longing," and the third line "without my eyes meeting," that is, unable to sleep, with a negative connective.
The lower verses mean "spreading one sleeve of my robe, I let the dawn come," the phrase "spreading one sleeve" meaning to sleep alone on half one's robe, sealed by an emphatic construction. Using a traditional waka image of sleeping alone, he frankly confides that he spent the long winter night sleepless and alone for longing, conveying his wish to bring her to his residence soon.
- Author
- Prince Atsumichi
- Source
- Izumi Shikibu Nikki
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Ume wa haya sakinikeri tote oreba chiru hana to zo yuki no furu wa miekeru
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Fuyu no yo wa me sae kōri ni tojirarete akashigataki o akashikeru kana