Izumi Shikibu - Poetry Examples

Poetry Examples

• 刈藻かき臥猪の床のゐを安み
  さこそねざらめ斯らずもがな
  karu mo kaki fusu wi no toko no wi wo yasumi sa koso nezarame kakarazu mo gana
  loosely: Trampling the dry grass the wild boar makes his bed, and sleeps. I would not sleep so soundly even were I without these feelings.
  (Goshūi Wakashū 14:821)

  黒髪のみだれも知らず打臥せば
  まづかきやりし人ぞ戀しき
  kurokami no midaremo shirazu uchifuseba madzu kakiyarishi hito zo kohishiki
  loosely: My black hair is unkempt; unconcerned, he lies down and first gently smooths it, my darling!
  (Goshūi Wakashū 13:755)

  長閑なる折こそなけれ花を思ふ心の
  うちに風はふかねど
  nodoka naru ori koso nakere hana wo omou kokoro no uchi ni kaze wa fukanedo
  loosely: "There is not even a moment of calmness. In the heart that loves the blossoms, the wind is already blowing."
  

  (Heian noblewoman had very long hair.)

• A large number of Shikibu's poems are poems of lamentation (哀傷歌, aishō no uta?). A few examples, first to Tametaka:

  亡人のくる夜ときけど君もなし
  我が住む宿や魂無きの里
  naki hito no kuru yo to kikedo kimi mo nashi wa ga sumu yado ya tamanaki no sato
  loosely: They say the dead return tonight, but you are not here. Is my dwelling truly a house without spirit?
  (Goshūi Wakashū 10:575)

  Upon seeing her daughter Koshikibu no Naishi's name on her Imperial robes she received after her death:

  諸共に苔のしたには朽ちずして
  埋もれぬ名をみるぞ悲しき
  morotomo ni koke no shita ni ha kuchizu shite udzumorenu na wo miru zo kanashiki
  loosely: Beneath the moss, imperishable, her name of high renown: seeing it is a great sadness.
  (Kin'yō Wakashū 10:620)