Meet the Poets of Hyakunin Isshu
Lady Ise

Meaning

In this short life, even as brief as a joint of reed at Naniwa Bay, must I pass through this world without ever meeting you?

Commentary

This poem is said to express the poet's complex feelings after the end of a former love.

"The space between the joints of the reed" is an image for an extremely short time. The poet yearns for her lover so deeply that she cannot bear even the briefest moment without meeting him, capturing the grief of parting and a deep, lingering attachment.

Learn more