Ono No Komachi Translation: Autumn

Watching wan moonlight illuminate tree limbs, my heart also brims, overflowing with autumn. —Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch 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 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 enticed me, 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 by 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 by Michael R. Burch Sleepless with loneliness, I find myself longing for the handsome moon. —Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch Fiery coals burning my body pain me far less than the sorrow of parting. —Ono no Komachi, translation by Michael R. Burch