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Japanese
English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
和泉式部
あらざらむ
この世のほかの
思ひ出に
いまひとたびの
逢ふこともがな
いまひとた
ひのあふこ
ともかな
あらざ
- Poem 56
- あらざらむ
この世のほかの
思ひ出に
いまひとたびの 逢ふこともがな
Author: Izumi Shikibu (dates unknown)
Source: Go Shūi Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- My life is drawing to a close, I cannot longer stay, A pleasant memory of thee I fain would
take away; So visit me, I pray.
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- I may not be long for this world. As a memory to take beyond — let me meet you just one more time.
- Commentary
- The headnote in the Go Shūi Wakashū reads, "Sent to someone during an illness," from which it is understood that Izumi Shikibu composed this poem for a lover while confined to a sickbed. However, since the men Izumi Shikibu loved tended to die young themselves, another interpretation holds that this poem may instead be her final message to a lover whose own death was drawing near.
- About the Poet
- After bearing Koshikibu no Naishi (Poem 60) with Tachibana no Michisada, Izumi Shikibu became known for her relationships with Prince Tametaka, the third son of Emperor Reizei, and later his younger brother, Prince Atsumichi. Murasaki Shikibu once remarked of her, "She is careless in matters of the heart, but she has a real gift for writing — even her smallest words carry a certain charm."
- Izumi Shikibu'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)
I won't be in this world much longer.
So before I go, I want to see your face one more time.Holding onto that single meeting,
I mean to quietly slip away.
- 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).