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

illuminate bare 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 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

Love is man's most unbreakable bond.

�"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