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Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
赤染衛門
やすらはで
寝なましものを
小夜更けて
かたぶくまでの
月を見しかな
かたふくま
てのつきを
みしかな
やす
- Poem 59
- やすらはで
寝なましものを
小夜更けて
かたぶくまでの 月を見しかな
Author: Akazome Emon (c. 956–1041)
Source: Go Shūi Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- Waiting and hoping for thy step, Sleepless in bed I lie, All through the night, until the
moon, Leaving her post on high, Slips sideways down the sky.
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- I waited and waited without sleep, watching the moon sink slowly toward the horizon in the deepening night. How I regret it.
- Commentary
- According to the headnote in the Go Shūi Wakashū, this poem arose when Fujiwara no Michitaka was courting one of Akazome Emon's sisters. One night, despite having promised to visit, he failed to appear. On her sister's behalf, Akazome Emon composed this poem, gently conveying her displeasure.
- About the Poet
- Akazome Emon's name comes from her father's office, Right Gate Guards Officer (Uemon no Jō). She served Rinshi, the principal wife of Fujiwara no Michinaga, and later served Rinshi's daughter Shōshi as well, once Shōshi became consort to Emperor Ichijō. During this time she was on friendly terms with both Murasaki Shikibu and Izumi Shikibu. She is also known as the author of A Tale of Flowering Fortunes (Eiga Monogatari).
- Akazome Emon'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)
Waiting for you, thinking you'd come any moment,
the moon quietly sank into the western sky.Had I known you weren't coming,
I wouldn't have spent such a long night waiting.
- 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).