Ono No Komachi Translations Iii
Ono no Komachi Translations
These are my modern English translations of the ancient Japanese poems of Ono no Komachi…
"It's over!"
Your words drizzle like dismal rains,
bringing tears,
as I wilt with my years.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
I pursue you ceaselessly in my dreams ...
yet we've never met; we're not even acquainted!
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Like flowers wilted by drenching rains,
my beauty has faded in the onslaught of my forlorn years.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Now that I approach
life's inevitable winter
your ardor has faded
like blossoms wilted
by late autumn rains.
?Ono no Komachi, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Fiery coals searing my body
hurt me far less than the sorrow of parting.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Love is man's most unbreakable bond.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
This moonless night,
with no way to meet him,
I grow restless with longing:
my heart’s an inferno,
it chars within me.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation 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, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
This flower's color
has drained away,
while in idle thoughts
my life drained away
as the long rains fall.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Fatal reality!
You must do what you must, I suppose.
But even hidden in my dreams
from all prying eyes,
to watch you still pains me so!
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Submit to you, is that what you advise?
The way the ripples do
whenever ill winds arise?
?Ono no Komachi, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Watching wan moonlight flooding tree limbs,
my heart also brims,
overflowing with autumn.
?Ono no Komachi, loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Alas, the beauty of the flowers came to naught
as I watched the rain, lost in melancholy thought ...
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Keywords/Tags: Ono no Komachi, Japan, Japanese, beauty, beautiful, nature, poet, poetess, geisha, courtesan, song, dance, girl, rain, rains, tears, drizzle, years, dismal, flower, flowers, dream, dreams, wilt, wilted, tree, trees, woman, women
Copyright ©
Michael Burch
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