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Japanese
English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
左京大夫道雅
いまはただ
思ひ絶えなむ
とばかりを
人づてならで
言ふよしもがな
ひとつてな
らていふよ
しもかな
いまは
- Poem 63
- いまはただ
思ひ絶えなむ
とばかりを
人づてならで 言ふよしもがな
Author: Master of the Left Capital Michimasa (992–1054)
Source: Go Shūi Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- If we could meet in privacy, Where no one else could see, Softly I'd whisper in thy ear This
little word from me— "I'm dying, Love, for thee."
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- If only I could say it directly: all I want is to end this love. But there is no way to tell you in person.
- Commentary
- Michimasa fell in love with Princess Masako, who served as the Ise Virgin (Saigū), but her father, Retired Emperor Sanjō (Poem 68), placed her under strict guard and forbade Michimasa from ever seeing her again. Unable to meet the woman he loved, Michimasa poured his aching heart into this poem.
- About the Poet
- Fujiwara no Michimasa was the eldest son of Fujiwara no Korechika. After his father shot an arrow at the retired Emperor Kazan during the Chōtoku Incident, his family's fortunes fell into steady decline. Though Michimasa held the junior third rank, he had no real political influence, and grew increasingly reckless and self-destructive. His poor conduct earned him nicknames like "the Wild Third Rank" and "the Wicked Third Rank," and his name was even once linked to the shadowy mastermind behind a murder case.
- Master of the Left Capital Michimasa'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)
If we truly can't meet again,
let me at least deliver these final words.Not through anyone else —
I want to look into your eyes and tell you myself.
- 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).