A Hundred Verses from Old Japan/Poem 45
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45
KEN-TOKU KŌ
Aware to mo
Iu beki hito wa
Omohoede
Mi no itazura ni
Narinu beki kana.
PRINCE KEN-TOKU
I dare not hope my lady-love
Will smile on me again;
She knows no pity, and my life
I care not to retain,
Since all my prayers are vain.
The real name of the writer of this verse was Koretada Fujiwara; he died in the year 972, and Prince Ken-toku is his posthumous name.
Aware to mo means, in conjunction with the next line, ‘that she would give me words of pity’; but aware tomo can also mean ‘to meet as a friend’.
In spite of the Prince’s fears, the illustration seems to suggest that his lady-love changed her mind, and came to visit him once more.