Love Poem: Ono No Komachi Translations
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Written by: Michael Burch

Ono No Komachi Translations

As I slept in isolation
my desired beloved appeared to me; 
therefore, dreams have become my reality
and consolation. 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Submit to you—is that what you advise? 
The way the ripples do
whenever ill winds arise? 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Watching wan moonlight flooding tree limbs, 
my heart also brims, 
overflowing with autumn.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

If fields of autumn flowers
can shed their blossoms, shameless, 
why can't I also frolic here— 
as fearless and as blameless? 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

So cruelly severed,
a root-cut reed ...
if the river offered,
why not be freed?
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Wretched water-weed that I am, 
severed from all roots: 
if rapids should entice me to annihilation, 
why not welcome their lethal shoots? 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

I had thought to pluck
the flower of forgetfulness
only to find it 
already blossoming in his heart.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Though I visit him
continually in my dreams, 
the sum of all such ethereal trysts
is still less than one actual, solid glimpse. 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

That which men call "love"— 
is it not merely the chain
preventing our escape 
from this world of pain? 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Did you appear
only because I was lost in thoughts of love
when I nodded off, day-dreaming of you? 
(If only I had known that you weren't true
I'd have never awakened!) 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Sad, 
the end that awaits me— 
to think that before autumn yields
I'll be a pale mist
shrouding these rice fields.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

In this dismal world
the living decrease
as the dead increase;
oh, how much longer
must I bear this body of grief?
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Once-colorful flowers faded
while in my drab cell
life's impulse also abated
as the long rains fell. 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

This vain life!
My looks and talents faded 
like these cherry blossoms inundated
by endless rains
that I now survey, alone.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Now bitterly I watch
the fierce autumn winds
battering the rice stalks
suspecting I'll never again
find anything to harvest.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

This abandoned 
mountain village house:
how many nights
has autumn sheltered there? 
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Though I visit him
continually in my dreams,
the sum of all such ethereal trysts
is still less than one actual, solid glimpse.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Once-colorful flowers faded,
while in my drab cell
life's impulse also abated
as the long rains fell.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

This vain life!
My looks and talents faded
like these cherry blossoms inundated
by endless rains
that I now survey, alone.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Autumn nights are "long"
only in verse and song:
for we had just begun
to gaze into each other's eyes
when dawn immolated the skies!
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

I think of you ceaselessly, with love...
and so... come to me at night,
for in the flight
of dreams, no one can disapprove!
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

On nights such as these
when no moon lights your way to me,
I lie awake, my passion blazing,
my breast an inferno wildly raging,
while my heart chars within me.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Since my body
was neglected by the one
who had promised faithfully to come,
I now lie here questioning its existence.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Since there's obviously nothing to catch
in this barren bay,
how can he fail to understand—
the fisherman who persists in coming and going
until his legs collapse in the sand?
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

What do I know of villages
where fisherfolk dwell?
Why do you keep demanding
that I show you the seashore,
lead you to some pearly shell?
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Yielding to a love
that recognizes no boundaries,
I will approach him by night—
for the world cannot despise
a wandering dreamer.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Now that I approach
life's inevitable winter
your ardor has faded
like blossoms devastated
by late autumn rains.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Am I to spend another night alone
atop this icy crag,
so desolately cold and lost?
Won't you at least lend me
your robes of moss?
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Alas, the beauty of the flowers came to naught
while I watched the rain, lost in melancholy thought ...
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Two things wilt without warning,
bleeding away their colors:
a flower and a man's heart.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

"It's over!"
Your words drizzle like dismal rains,
bringing tears,
as I wilt with my years.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Now bitterly I watch
fierce autumn's winds
battering the rice stalks,
suspecting I'll never again
find anything to harvest.
—Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch

How brilliantly
tears rain upon my sleeve
in bright gemlets,
for my despair cannot be withstood,
like a surging flood!
—Ono no Komachi, translation Michael R. Burch

This moonless night,
with no way to meet him,
I grow restless with longing:
my breast’s an inferno,
my heart chars within me.
—Ono no Komachi, translation Michael R. Burch

Sleepless with loneliness,
I find myself longing for the handsome moon.
—Ono no Komachi, translation Michael R. Burch

Fiery coals burning my body
pain me far less than the sorrow of parting.
—Ono no Komachi, translation Michael R. Burch