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Japanese
English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
素性法師
今こむと
いひしばかりに
長月の
有明の月を
待ち出でつるかな
ありあけの
つきをまち
いてつるかな
いまこ
- Poem 21
- 今こむと
いひしばかりに
長月の
有明の月を 待ち出でつるかな
Author: Priest Sosei (dates unknown)
Source: Kokin Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- The moon that shone the whole night through This autumn morn I see, As here I wait thy well-known step,
For thou didst promise me— "I'll surely come to thee."
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- Just because you said "I will come right away" — I waited all night for you, watching the moon of the long autumn month until it set at dawn.
- Commentary
- This poem is composed from a woman's point of view. Nagatsuki, the "long month," corresponds to the ninth month of the lunar calendar, deep in autumn. Whether she waited "all through one night" or "for months on end" is open to interpretation — Fujiwara no Teika, the compiler of the Hyakunin Isshu, reads it in his commentary on the Kokin Wakashū as "autumn came to a close while she waited month after month," drawing out the story hidden within the poem. It conveys both the woman's mounting longing and the loneliness of passing autumn.
- About the Poet
- Priest Sosei was a great-grandson of Emperor Kanmu, born as the son of High Priest Henjō. Perhaps influenced by his father, who had taken holy orders upon the death of Emperor Ninmyō, Sosei too became a priest at a young age. Even after taking orders, he remained active at poetry gatherings in the imperial court.
- Priest Sosei'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)
Believing your words, "I'll come right away,"
I'm still waiting today.The night has ended, autumn has passed —
but my heart is still stuck on that day.
- 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).