Home > Author > Ono no Komachi
1 " When my desiregrows too fierceI wear my bed clothesinside out,dark as the night’s rough husk. "
― Ono no Komachi , The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan
2 " The color of the flower has faded, while I lost myself in idle thought in this long rain / 花の色は うつりにけりな いたづらに わが身世にふる ながめせし間に "
― Ono no Komachi
3 " The one close to me now,even my own body-these toowill soon become clouds,floating in different directions. "
4 " Watching the moonat dawn,solitary, mid-sky,I knew myself completely,no part left out. "
5 " Even when a river of tearscourses throughthis body,the flame of lovecannot be quenched. "
6 " Even if I now saw youonly once,I would long for youthrough worlds,worlds. "
7 " Although the windblows terribly here,the moonlight also leaksbetween the roof planksof this ruined house. "
8 " Nothingin the worldis usual today.This isthe first morning. "
9 " Things I Want DecidedWhich shouldn't existin this world,the one who forgetsor the onewho is forgotten?Which is better,to loveone who has diedor not to seeeach other when you're alive?Which is better,the distant loveryou long foror the one you see dailywithout desire?Which is the least unreliableamong fickle things —the swift rapids,a flowing river,or this human world? "
10 " For a momenthe became smoke.How intimate,now,the cloudy sky. "
11 " Rather than recallin these flowersthe fragrance of the past,I would like to hear this nightingale's voice,to know if his song is as sweet. "
12 " If the one I waited forcame now, what should I do? This morning's garden filled with snowis far too lovely for footsteps to mar. "
13 " When the netted fence of spiderwebsthat darkens my ruined housecan hold the wind in its strands-that's when these troubled thoughtswill blow away. . . . "
14 " The way I must enterleads through darkness to darkness-O moon above the mountain's rim,please shine a little furtheron my path, "
15 " Althoughthe cricket's songhas no words,still,it sounds like sorrow. "
16 " Perhaps, if I make a friendof the mountain cuckooin this world,he will talk to mewhen we cross the mountain of death "
17 " Is this love realityOr a dream?I cannot know,When both reality and dreamsExist without truly existing. "
18 " What is it about this twilight hour? Even the sound of a barely perceptible breeze pierces the heart. "
19 " However wildlythis year's cherry blossoms bloom,I'll see themwith the plum's scentfilling my heart. "
20 " Though we knew each other without overlapping our clothes, still, with this autumn wind’s sound, I find myself waiting for you. "
