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- Ise Monogatari
Like the pale young purple of Kasuga Plain, a robe rubbed with dye—my hidden thoughts are tangled beyond all measure.
Like the young purple of Kasuga Plain, you are fresh and beautiful; loving you in secret, my heart is tangled without limit, like the twisted pattern of a robe rubbed with dye.
In Michinoku, the shinobu-rubbed pattern— for whose sake did it begin to tangle? It was not I who did so.
The twisted pattern of shinobu-rubbing from Shinobu in Michinoku is tangled again and again; just so, my heart has begun to be thrown into turmoil—not by anyone else’s doing but yours alone.
Neither waking nor sleeping, I spent the night till dawn; calling it a thing of spring, I gazed away the hours.
Neither fully awake nor asleep, I passed the night until dawn; and today as well, calling it a thing of spring, I spend the hours gazing vacantly, overcome by the spring rain and spring sorrow.
If you have any thought of me, then in the hut overgrown with weeds we would sleep; even with my sleeves spread upon the bare mat.
If you have any thought of me, then even in a hut overgrown with weeds we would sleep together; even without proper bedding, spreading our sleeves upon the bare mat, our hearts would be warmed.
Is it not the moon? Is spring not the spring of former days? Only my own self remains as I once was.
Is this not the same moon? Is this spring not the spring of former days? Only I alone remain as I once was, while all else has changed.
On the secret path I tread unseen by others, may the gatekeeper who stands watch there each night fall asleep night after night.
On the secret path I tread unseen by others, may the gatekeeper who stands watch there each night fall asleep night after night.
When she asked, “Is it a white jewel?”— had I but answered, “It is dew,” and vanished away.
When she asked, “Is it a white jewel?” I should have answered, “It is dew,” and vanished away.
All the more, as I go farther on, how I long for the place I have left— how enviable are the waves that return again.
As I go ever farther on, I long for the place I have left behind; how enviable are the waves that return again.
From Mount Asama in Shinano, rising smoke— do people far and near not see it and take alarm?
From Mount Asama in Shinano, smoke rises; do people far and near not see it and take alarm?
Clad in Chinese robes, long worn and grown familiar— because I have a wife so dear and close to me, how keenly I feel this distant journey.
Like a Chinese robe worn again and again until it has grown familiar to the body, I have a wife with whom I have grown close; and so I keenly feel the long journey that has brought me far from the capital.
On Mount Utsu in Suruga—there, even in waking, nor yet in dreams, do I meet with her.
On Mount Utsu in Suruga, neither in waking nor even in dreams do I meet with her.
A mountain that knows no season— Mount Fuji’s peak: what time does it think it is, that like a fawn’s dappled back snow falls in scattered white?
A mountain that knows no season is Mount Fuji. What time does it think it is, that snow falls upon it in scattered white, like the dappled back of a fawn?
If you truly bear the name, come, let me ask you, O capital bird: does the one I think upon still live, or not?
If you truly bear the name of the capital, come, let me ask you, O capital bird: does the one I think upon still live there, or not?
On Miyoshino’s fields, the trusting wild geese too, all in earnest, cry as they draw near toward your side.
On the fields of Miyoshino, even the trusting wild geese, in all earnestness, cry as they draw near toward your side; so too does my daughter turn her heart toward you.
They cry that they draw near toward my side—those trusting geese of Miyoshino; how could I ever forget them?
They cry that they draw near toward my side—those trusting geese of Miyoshino; how could I ever forget them?
Forget me not, though for a time I seem lost in the clouds, until, like the moon that crosses the sky, we meet again.
Forget me not, though for a time I may seem lost in the clouds; until, like the moon that crosses the sky, we meet again.