Seems shadowed by dark clouds.
(1911)
244
Lovely as the spring haze
Softening verdant hills and fields
On a sunny day
is your graceful figure,
Which 1 constantly adore.
(1913)
245
Dazed with love for my dear one,
l did not know where to turn.
Not till I had walked
Far from home was I aware of
The drizzling rain.
(1915)
246
How I wish I'd seen you clearly
When you left my home at dawn.
All this long spring day
My soul yearns for you,
And my heart is consumed with love.
(1925)
From a man
247
May the wisteria
Blossom once again
For our sweet delight of love,
If it does not bring forth fruit
Ripening into marriage.
(1928)
The woman's reply
248
As for the wisteria,
It's already borne its fruit
And is past its blossom time.
Should a gentle spring rain fall,
No more blossoms can it bear.
(1929)
249
Evening cicadas
Sing only at dusk.
What else can a woman do
whose love remains unrequited
But weep from morn to eve?
(1982)
250
Let the rumor spread
Fast and wide Like summer weeds.
But so Long as I can Lie
With my Love,
What should I care?
(1983)
251
As a daisy blooms,
Quiet, modest,
Unremarked and unnoticed,
So my love in silence blooms,
Unrequited, in my heart.
(1989)
252
In the spring the earth
Is adorned with flowers fair.
In the summer 'tis clad in green.
In the autumn the mountains wear
Glorious tints of red and gold.
(2177)
253
Never do I see
Dewdrops sparkling pure and fair
On a bush-clover spray
But l recall
Your dear image with noble grace.
(2259)
254
Would my darling were
A soft undergarment.
When the autumn wind
Sends a chill up my spine,
I would wear it next to me.
(2260)
255
Though I writhe with passion and
Die of the agony of Love,
Yet ne'er I will let my ardor
Show forth in my face,
Clear as a morning-glory's hue.
(2305)
256
Even while traveling,
With the gentle sex I lie.
These Long autumn nights
All alone I sleep at home
That annoying rumors may not spread.
(2505)
257
Weak and faint
With the gnawing pain of Love—
I feel I'll fade away
Like a pearl of dew
On a spray of plum blossoms.
(2335
258
When you aren't with me,
Evening never falls
But that I am cold and alone,
Though no mountain wind
Chills my spine.
(2350)
259
Come in, my dear one,
Through the opening in the blinds.
Should my mother ask,
"Who has come in?" I will reply
"It's just the wind."
(2364)
260
Such is my agony—
A wedded Lady fair
Seen but once
On the royal thoroughfare.
Now my nights are often sleepless.
(2365)
261
Even now I see
The image of my beloved wife
Crying her heart out,
Till her sleeves were soaked with tears
On the day she saw me off.
(2518)
262
Though l sleep
Only on thin mats of
Newly mown straw,
I'm not cold,
As long as I sleep with you.
(2520)
263
I have lost my heart
To one who is not inclined
To return my Love.
I feel more dead than alive.
No more do I care to live.
(2525)
264
With eagerness
She must be awaiting me—
I will hasten
So that I may see a charming smile
On her lovely face.
(2526)
265
Through the opening of her bamboo fence,
If l could but glimpse
My Lovely girl
For a moment now and then,
How could l ever be melancholy?
(2530)
266
For whom and why
Should l ever free my hair,
Rich and ebony black,
To flow and ripple in the air,
But to be admired and stroked
By the dear love of my heart?
(2532)
267
1 have kept my love for you
Hidden even from my dear mother.
I am yours—
All my heart and all my soul
I offer as your own.
(2537)
268
'Tis a thousand years
Since our Last tryst.
No, that cannot be.
Just waiting to see you again,
It seems an age has passed.
(2539)
269
As soft and tender
As young grass
Is my sweet young wife.
How can l ever for even a night
Miss my darling?
(2542)
270
Thinking of a sudden visit
To my Love—
I can see
How her Lovely smile
Will brighten her face.
(2546)
271
Little did I think
She was everything to me.
Now how I regret
That it was not every night
I Laid my head upon her arm.
(2547)
272
The image of the girl
Who, in crimson gown,
Left here days ago,
Is still vivid in my eyes,
Night and day, awake or asleep.
(2550)
273
In the agony of Love,
Muddled,
All I could do
Was wonder from my house,
And go past her gate.
(2551)
274
At the sight of you,
So shy,
I hide my face.
But even with face hidden,
How I wish to gaze at you!
(2554)
275
Should I ever tell my mother
What is going on
Twixt you and me,
We would have no chance to meet
Till we reach a ripe old age.
(2557)
276
You are leaving me
In this drear village
Falling into ruin.
Take pity on me;
I shall die of melancholy.
(2560)
277
With her jet-black hair
Unbound about her head,
My sweet love
Must now be in her Lone bed
Anxiously awaiting me.
(2564)
278
Longing for a girl of whom
But a glimpse I caught
Through a hedge of reeds,
I heave a thousand melancholy sighs
Each day.
(2565)
279
"Meeting the girl you love,
Eases the pangs of Longing,"
'Tis what many say.
Nevertheless, after meeting the girl,
ALL the more to pine for her.
(2567)
280
I shall die
If I go on Longing for you,
So I've Let my mother know
That we are Lovers.
Come see me whenever you will.
(2570)
281
Carousing with friends-
Men may well sport
And amuse themselves,
But I have to bear
The gnawing pain of love.
(2571)
282
Are you dying from love of me?
You should lie more plausibly.
From days of old,
Who ever has perished for the love of one
Whom he has never seen?
(2572)
283
All night Long my hair
Rested on his sturdy arm
And his fond caressing hand.
Though it is snarled this morn,
I will keep it as it is.
(2578)
284
Worthless fellow that I am—
If I could remove
Her fair charms
From the depths of my heart,
Why should I ever long for her?
(2580)
285
Should I tell you of my love,
Commonplace my words would sound,
And too dull my speech.
Too full is my heart for words.
Too deep is my love for speech.
(2581)
286
What a shameful act!
What a sheer absurdity
That at this age
I should lose my heart in Love
As young men are wont to do!
(2582)
287
Nothing shall I gain
If I should be so lovelorn
As to die.
So long as I am alive
I can hope to meet my love.
(2592)
288
I'm distraught with love
For a lady to no avail.
For when evening comes,
It is in her husband's arms
That she comfortably Lies.
(2599)
289
Ever since I knew my love,
With my flesh touching his,
My consuming love for him,
Ever growing in my breast,
Gives me no rest or peace.
(2612)
In the original, the second line is more euphemistically expressed as:
With my sleeves in touch with his.
290
When I tapped on the gate
Of my dear love
In the mountain depths,
It echoed so loudly
That I slept in the frost outside.
(2616)
291
On our wedding night
My young bride of tender age,
Twixt innocent sweet smiles
And sullen angry looks,
Slowly untied her sash.
(2627)
292
Her head resting on her arms
And her glossy raven hair
Spread around her neck,
My sweet Love must anxiously
Be waiting for me this night.
(2631)
293
Before my eyes
Floats the image of a girl
In the glow of lamplight,
Her lovely face
Brightened in a smile.
(2642)
294
Humble as a hut
Stained with smoke and soot,
Worn with age and cares,
is my wife. But for all that,
She's ever the Loveliest to me.
(2651)
295
Never do I hear
The clopping of a horse's hoofs
But I go to watch
From behind the pine trees,
Hoping that it might be you.
(2653)
296
Slanders and abuses
Do not please the gods.
whatever they may say of us,
I will not deny or mind.
You, upon people's Lips,
Are the lover of my heart.
(2659)
297
Not a day goes by
But I visit holy shrines,
Praying to the gods
That the lover of my heart
Each night may visit me.
(2660)
298
Full bright was the moonlight.
I was sure
Dawn was yet far,
Yet my Love and I overslept.
Our affair has been revealed.
(2665)
299
Straightening the bed,
Brushing it with my sleeves,
Anxiously I awaited you.
In the meantime, the moon
Sank low in the western sky.
(2667)
300
'Tis a fine robe
That I've sewn with all my heart
For my dear one.
All this rainy day,
I've been anxious for his call.
(2682)
301
The downpour has just passed,
Starting leaks inside the walls
Of the hut in the fields.
Even the matted floor is wet.
Lie tight against me, my dear.
(2683)
302
Passing near the gate
Of my sweet one,
How I wish it would begin to rain—
A good excuse
For calling at her house!
(2685)
303
All the weeds
In the hemp fields
Are wet with dew.
You'd better leave after dawn,
Even if mother discovers our tryst.
(2687)
304
'Twas so cold Last night
That the ground is white with frost.
Day is dawning now.
Walk with care,
Written on Water Page 9