A Hundred Verses from Old Japan · 89 of 101

88. An Official of the Dowager Empress Kwōka: Kwōka Mon-in no Betto

88

AN OFFICIAL OF THE DOWAGER EMPRESS KWŌKA

KWŌKA MON-IN NO BETTO

Naniwa e no Ashi no karine no Hito yo yue Mi wo tsukushite ya Koi wataru beki.

I'VE seen thee but a few short hours; As short, they seemed to me, As bamboo reeds at Naniwa; But tide-stakes in the sea Can't gauge my love for thee.

This verse was written some time in the twelfth century; and Naniwa is the ancient name of Ōsaka.

There are several double meanings in this verse lines 2 and 3 can mean either 'one section of a reed cut off between the joints', or 'one night's sleep as short as a reed'. In the fourth line also, miotsukushi means a tide-gauge, as explained in the note to verse No. 20, but the whole line, taken as printed, reads, 'How can I be already tired of thee!' The contrast here is between the length of only one section of a short reed and the long stake set up to measure the rise and fall of the tide.

The illustration seems to show the lady to whom the verse was addressed.