Diaries of Court Ladies
and ashamed. Do not suppose that I remain at home because my feeling is shallow.
She is cold-hearted, yet I cannot forget her.
Time wipes out bitterness, but deepens longings
Which to-day have overcome me.
Not slight is my feeling, although—
Her reply:
Are you coming? Scarcely believable are your words,
For not even a shadow
Passes before my unfrequented dwelling.
The Prince came as usual unannounced. The lady did not believe that he would come at all, and being tired out with the religious observances of several days, fell asleep. No one noticed the gentle knocking at the gate. He, on the other hand, had heard some rumours, and suspecting the presence of another lover, quietly retired. A letter came on the morning of the next day:
I stood before your closed door
Never to be opened.
Seeing, it became the symbol of your pitiless heart!
I tasted the bitterness of love, and pitied myself.
Then she knew that he had come the night before—carelessly fallen asleep!—and wrote back:
How can you write the thought?
The door of precious wood was closely shut,
No way to read that heart.
All is thy suspicion—O that I could lay bare my heart [to you]!
The next night he wanted to come again, yet he was advised against it. He feared the criticism of the Chamberlain and Crown Prince, so his visits became
