Ono no Komachi



Ono no Komachi (小野 小町; c. 825 – c. 900) was a Japanese waka poet. She was renowned for her unusual beauty, and Komachi is today a synonym for feminine beauty in Japan. Legends about her were later used extensively by the writers of Noh plays, including Zeami Motokiyo.

's The Spirit of Japanese Poetry (1914)

 * The Spirit of Japanese Poetry, trans. Yone Noguchi (John Murray, 1914)


 * The flowers and my love Passed away under the rain, While I idly looked upon them Where is my yester-love?
 * p. 112

's Anthology of Japanese Literature (1955)

 * Anthology of Japanese Literature: From the Earliest Era to the Mid-nineteenth Century, ed. Donald Keene (Allen & Unwin, 1955)

Utsurou momo wa Yo no naka no Hito no kokoro no Hana ni zo arikeru'' With no outward sign— Is the flower Of the heart of man In this world!
 * ''Iro miede
 * A thing which fades
 * trans., p. 78

Tsuki no naki yo wa Omoiokite Mune hashiri hi ni Kokoro yakeori'' There is no way to meet him. I rise in longing— My breast pounds, a leaping flame, My heart is consumed in fire.
 * ''Hito ni awamu
 * This night of no moon
 * p. 78

Nureba ya hito no Mietsuramu Yume to shiriseba Samezaramashi wo'' I slept, only to have him Appear before me— Had I known it was a dream, I should never have wakened.
 * ''Omoitsutsu
 * Thinking about him
 * p. 78

Mi wo ukigusa no Ne wo taete Sasou mizu araba Inamu to zo omou'' My body is a floating weed Severed at the roots. Were there water to entice me, I would follow it, I think.
 * ''Wabinureba
 * So lonely am I
 * p. 79

One Hundred Poems from the Japanese (1955)

 * One Hundred Poems from the Japanese, trans. Kenneth Rexroth (New Directions Publishing, 1955), ISBN 978-0811201810

It withers in the world, This flower-like human heart.
 * Imperceptible
 * p. 46

One Hundred More Poems from the Japanese (1976)

 * One Hundred More Poems from the Japanese, trans. Kenneth Rexroth (New Directions Publishing, 1976), ISBN 978-0811206198

Ashi mo yasumezu Kayoedo mo Utsutsu ni hitome Misbigoto wa arazu'' Of dream to you, my feet Never rest. But one glimpse of you In reality would be Worth all these many nights of love.
 * ''Yumeji ni wa
 * Following the roads
 * p. 33

Tsuki no naki ni wa Omoiokite Mune hashiribi ni Kokoro yakeori'' On this moonless night. I wake wanting you. My breasts heave and blaze. My heart burns up.
 * ''Hito ni awan
 * You do not come
 * p. 34

Women Poets of Japan (1982)

 * Women Poets of Japan, trans. Kenneth Rexroth with Ikuko Atsumi (New Directions Publishing, 1982), ISBN 978-0811208208

and he came to me. If I had known it was only a dream I would never have awakened.
 * I fell asleep thinking of him,
 * p. 14

over the roads of dreams, those nights of love are not worth one waking touch of you.
 * Although I come to you constantly
 * p. 15

Tonight in the dark of the moon I wake wanting him. My breasts heave and blaze. My heart chars.
 * He does not come.
 * p. 15

Kokin Wakashū: The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry (1985)

 * : The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry, trans. Helen Craig McCullough (Stanford University Press, 1985), ISBN 978-0804712583

utsurinikeri na itazura ni wa ga mi yo ni furu nagame seshi ma ni of the flowers has faded and come to nothing, while I have watched the rain, lost in melancholy thought.
 * ''Hana no iro wa
 * Alas! The beauty
 * p. 35

na nomi narikeri au to ieba koto zo to mo naku akenuru mono o'' are long by repute alone: scarcely had we met when morning's first light appeared, leaving everything unsaid.
 * ''Aki no yo mo
 * Autumn nights, it seems,
 * p. 142

utsurou mono wa yo no naka no hito no kokoro no hana ni zo arikeru'' the blossom that fades away, its color unseen, is the flower in the heart of one who lives in this world.
 * ''Iro miede
 * So much I have learned:
 * p. 174

mi o ukikusa no ne o taete sasou mizu araba inamu to zo omou'' I find life dreary indeed: if a stream beckoned, I would gladly cut my roots and float away like duckweed.
 * ''Wabinureba
 * In this forlorn state
 * p. 206

Quotes about Komachi

 * Her beauty may be legendary but her rank as one of the greatest erotic poets in any language is not.
 * Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi, The Burning Heart: Women Poets of Japan (New York: Seabury Press, 1977), p. 141