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Japanese
English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
右大将道綱母
嘆きつつ
ひとり寝る夜の
明くる間は
いかに久しき
ものとかは知る
いかにひさ
しきものと
かはしる
なげき
- Poem 53
- 嘆きつつ
ひとり寝る夜の
明くる間は
いかに久しき ものとかは知る
Author: Mother of the Right Captain Michitsuna (c. 937–c. 995)
Source: Shūi Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- All through the long and dreary night I lie awake and moan; How desolate my chamber feels,
How weary I have grown Of being left alone!
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- Lying alone, waiting for the long night to end — how endless it feels. Does the person who left me even know?
- Commentary
- The poet married Fujiwara no Kaneie, though he already had a principal wife, Tokihime. After she gave birth to their first child, Kaneie grew ever more distant from home and deepened his relationships with other women. One evening, when he came calling, she refused to let him in. The next day, she sent him this poem, together with a single faded chrysanthemum.
- About the Poet
- The Mother of the Right Captain Michitsuna was a secondary wife of Fujiwara no Kaneie, who would go on to become Chancellor. Her diary, the Kagerō Nikki, records her anguish over her husband's infidelities, while also subtly revealing the proud spirit of a woman who held her own against a powerful man and endured adversity. She is counted as one of Japan's "Three Great Beauties."
- Mother of the Right Captain Michitsuna'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 deepens on and on,
and I am the only one left waiting for you.Do you even know,
even a little, how lonely this long night is?
- 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).