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Japanese
English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
藤原道信朝臣
明けぬれば
暮るるものとは
知りながら
なほうらめしき
朝ぼらけかな
なほうらめ
しきあさほ
らけかな
あけ
- Poem 52
- 明けぬれば
暮るるものとは
知りながら
なほうらめしき 朝ぼらけかな
Author: Fujiwara no Michinobu Ason (972–994)
Source: Go Shūi Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- Although I know the gentle night Will surely follow morn, Yet, when I'm wakened by the sun,
Turn over, stretch and yawn— How I detest the dawn!
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- I know that after dawn comes dusk — and yet how I resent this pale morning sky.
- Commentary
- This poem expresses the ache of love: even knowing that night will bring another meeting, the moment of parting still feels painful and unwelcome. Under Heian custom, lovers could only meet at night and had to part again at dawn. The poem captures the poet's earnest wish not to be parted from his beloved, even for a moment.
- About the Poet
- Fujiwara no Michinobu was raised as the adopted son of his uncle, Chancellor Fujiwara no Kaneie. The Ōkagami describes him as "a masterly poet, spoken of with quiet admiration," known for both his poetic gift and his modest, gentle character. Great things were expected of him, but he contracted smallpox and died at the young age of twenty-three.
- Fujiwara no Michinobu Ason'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)
Morning has come again.
Your warmth is slipping further away.I know we'll meet again —
but this parting is unbearable all the same.
- 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).