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Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
壬生忠岑
有明の
つれなく見えし
別れより
あかつきばかり
憂きものはなし
あかつきは
かりうきも
のはなし
ありあ
- Poem 30
- 有明の
つれなく見えし
別れより
あかつきばかり 憂きものはなし
Author: Mibu no Tadamine (dates unknown)
Source: Kokin Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- I hate the cold unfriendly moon, That shines at early morn; And nothing seems so sad and grey,
When I am left forlorn, As day's returning dawn.
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- Ever since that cold dawn when we parted, I have come to dread the break of day more than anything in the world.
- Commentary
- This poem is collected in the Kokin Wakashū under the heading "Love that ends in parting without meeting." At the time, it was customary for a man to visit a woman's home and leave again before dawn. The poem allows two readings: one, that the man feels reluctant longing because the woman's manner was cold; the other, that despite his own reluctance to part from her, he feels the moon itself is "cold and indifferent" as dawn breaks without mercy.
- About the Poet
- Mibu no Tadamine was a low-ranking military officer responsible for palace guard duties, but he was gifted at poetry and frequently took part in court poetry gatherings. He was skilled enough to be chosen as one of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū. He was the father of Mibu no Tadami.
- Mibu no Tadamine'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)
The night I spent with you
was far too short.Every time I see the moon at dawn,
the sorrow of our parting comes rushing back.
- 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).