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English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
伊勢
難波潟
みじかき葦の
ふしのまも
逢はでこの世を
過ぐしてよとや
あはてこの
よをすくし
てよとや
なにはが
- Poem 19
- 難波潟
みじかき葦の
ふしのまも
逢はでこの世を 過ぐしてよとや
Author: Ise (dates unknown)
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- Short as the joints of bamboo reeds That grow beside the sea On pebble beach at Naniwa,
I hope the time may be, When thou 'rt away from me.
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- In this short life, even as brief as a joint of reed at Naniwa Bay, must I pass through this world without ever meeting you?
- Commentary
- The Ise Shū's headnote reads, "In autumn, when someone said something unpleasant." This poem is said to express Ise's complicated feelings after being abandoned by her former lover, Fujiwara no Nakahira.
- About the Poet
- Ise was one of the leading poets of the Kokin Wakashū era, and her life was marked by many romances. After parting from Fujiwara no Nakahira, she bore a son to Emperor Uda and came to be known as "Ise no Miyasudokoro." She later had a daughter, Nakatsukasa, with Emperor Uda's son Prince Atsuyoshi — Nakatsukasa would go on to become a celebrated poet in her own right.
- Ise's Chart of the Heart
-
A chart and a modern-language reflection of the poet's inner feelings.
The Poet's Feelings (A Personal Interpretation)
Even just a moment —
all I want is to see you.If even that wish won't be granted,
what am I supposed to live for?
- Poem Illustration
-
This image is based on an illustration from William N. Porter's A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, his 1909 English translation of the Hyakunin Isshu published in England, colorized and reworked using Adobe Firefly (generative AI).