Ono no Komachi

Ono no Komachi is a major poet in my opinion and she remains a personal favorite of mine, a Japanese Sappho...

Ono no Komachi as portrayed by actress Airi Kido in Tamara Ruppart’s award-winning short film “Path of Dreams.”

These are my modern English translations of ancient Japanese poems by Ono no Komachi, who flourished around 850 AD.

I would include Komachi among the very best ancient female poets, along with Enheduanna, Sappho, Erinna and Tzu Yeh.

Ono no Komachi was a legendary beauty who wrote tanka (also known as waka), the most traditional form of Japanese lyric poetry. Although little is known about her life with any certainty, she continues to speak for herself eloquently through her exquisite lyrics.

Komachi is best known today for her recurring themes of autumn rains, wilting flowers and passionate dreams, and for her pensive, melancholic and erotic poems…

If fields of autumn flowers
can shed their blossoms, shameless,
why can’t I also frolic here —
as fearless, wild and blameless?
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Komachi is an excellent representative of the Classical, or Heian, period (circa 794-1185 AD) of Japanese literature and one of the best-known poets of the Kokinshu (circa 905), the first in a series of anthologies of Japanese poetry compiled by imperial order. She is also one of the Rokkasen — the six best waka poets of the early Heian period, during which poetry was considered the highest art in Japan. In other words, like Sappho to the ancient Greeks, Komachi was considered to be one of the very best poets of her era. Or we might compare her to Madonna and Beyonce in ours. But Komachi's poems of unrequited love, and of neglect by her lovers, remind me most of Sappho…

I had thought to pluck
the flower of forgetfulness
only to find it
already blossoming in his heart.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Renowned for her unusual beauty, Komachi has become a synonym for feminine beauty in Japan. But some of her strongest poems are about the fading of her beauty and that fading’s consequences for her love life and happiness…

Alas, the beauty of the flowers came to naught
as I watched the rain, lost in melancholic thought…
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:113), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Komachi is included among the thirty-six Poetry Immortals. It is believed that she was born sometime between 820-830 and that she wrote most of her poems around the middle of the ninth century. Komachi is also the heroine of Sotoba Komachi, a modern Noh play by Yukio Mishima (1925-1970). Mishima's play is based on an ancient work by Kan'ami Kiyotsugu (1333-1384). There is more information about Sotoba Komachi at the bottom of this page, including my translation of an excerpt. The play is about an aging Komachi who, according to legend, lost her mind and her desire to live when she lost her fabled beauty. And that loss of desire does seem to be confirmed by her poems…

So cruelly severed,
a root-cut reed…
if the river offered,
why not be freed?
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XVIII:938), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Watching wan moonlight flooding tree limbs,
my heart also brims,
overflowing with autumn.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Wilting and fading flowers as a metaphor for fading beauty are a recurring theme in Komachi’s evocative poetry…

The wildflowers and my love
wilted with the rain
as I idly wondered
where in the past does love remain?
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XV:782), loose translation/interpretation 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 (KKS XV:822), loose translation/interpretation 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 (KKS XII:113), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

"The passionate accents of the waka of Komachi and Narihira would never be surpassed, and the poetry as a whole is of such charm as to make the appearance of the Kokinshū seem less a brilliant dawn after a dark night than the culmination of a steady enhancement of the expressive powers of the most typical Japanese poetic art."—Donald Keene, translator, critic and literary historian

Some of the poems herein have been attributed to Ono no Komachi but may have been composed by poets of later periods who were influenced by her style and themes. Where possible, I have provided a reference and the original text. Some poems have multiple translations with different interpretations.

Note to archivists, anthologists, editors and scholars: The versions of my translations on this page are the most current, definitive ones. Translations of mine found elsewhere may be older versions, or pirated and botched.—MRB

For explanations of how he translates and why he calls his results "loose translations" and "interpretations" please click here: Michael R. Burch Translation Methods and Credits to Other Translators

Abandonment

This abandoned mountain shack —
how many nights
has autumn sheltered there?
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Am I to spend the night alone
atop this summit,
cold and lost?
Won't you at least lend me
your robes of moss?
—Ono no Komachi (GSS XVII:1195), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Komachi wrote her poem about a visit she made to a temple. The moss robe refers to the coarse clothing worn by Buddhist monks and priests. The next poem was Henjo’s clever reply to the famous beauty:

Alas, my moss robe has just one layer,
yet not to share it would be inhospitable...
Come, let’s sleep together!
—Henjo (GSS XVII:1196), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Ancient Feminism

Submit to you — is that what you advise?
The way ripples do
whenever ill winds arise?
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Submit to you —
is that what you’re saying?
The way ripples do
whenever hot air is splaying?
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

If fields of autumn flowers
can shed their blossoms, shameless,
why can’t I also frolic here —
as fearless, wild and blameless?
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Autumn Rains and Wilted Flowers

Time is a harsh mistress. Autumn rains and wilting flowers are metaphors for Komachi's tears over her loss of beauty and happiness as she aged...

Alas, the beauty of the flowers came to naught
as I watched the rain, lost in melancholy thought…
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:113), loose translation/interpretation 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 (KKS XII:113), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

This flower's color
has drained away,
while in idle thoughts
my life drained away
as the long rains fell.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:113), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Now that I approach
life’s inevitable winter
your ardor has faded
like blossoms left limp
by late autumn rains.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:113), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Fana no iro Fa
uturi ni keri na
itadura ni
waga mi yo ni Furu
nagame sesi ma ni
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:113)

Two things wilt without warning,
bleeding away their colors:
a flower and a man's heart.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XV:797), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Watching the long, dismal rains
inundating the earth,
my heart too is washed out, bleeds off
with the colors of the late spring flowers.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XV:797), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

iro miete
ururoFu mono Fa
yo no naka no
Fito no kokoro no
Fana ni zo arikeru
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XV:797)

I had thought to pluck
the flower of forgetfulness
only to find it
already blossoming in his heart.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

"It's over!"
Your words drizzle like dismal rains,
reducing me to tears
as I wilt with my years.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XV:782), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

My body has wilted with late autumn rains;
now even your leaves lie colorless and scattered.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XV:782), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The colorless, scattered leaves might be those of love letters and books.

Like flowers wilted by drenching rains,
my beauty has faded in the onslaught of my forlorn years.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XV:782), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

ima Fa tote
wa ga mi sigure ni
Furinureba
koto no Fa saFe ni
uturoFinikeri
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XV:782)

Ono no Sadaki wrote the following poem in response:

Heart,
if you were the last leaf on a barren tree,
then, and only then,
in obedience to the wind,
would you wisely fall and be consumed.
—Ono no Sadaki (KKS XV:783), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

So lately severed,
a root-cut reed,
if the river offered,
why not be freed?
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XVIII:938), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

This aimlessly floating body?
This reed severed from its roots?
If the river offered me freedom
I think I'd follow…
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XVIII:938), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Wretched water-weed that I am,
severed from all roots:
should the rapids entice me,
why not welcome their lethal shoots?
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XVIII:938), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

wabinureba
mi wo ukikusa no
ne wo taete
sasoFu midu araba
inamu to zo omoFu
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XVIII:938)

How brilliantly
tears rain upon my sleeve
in bright gemlets,
for my despair cannot be withstood,
like a surging flood!
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:557), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Foolish teardrops, indeed, to form beads on a sleeve:
mine deluge the earth, undammable!
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:557), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Komachi wrote her poem in reply to one by Abe no Kiyoyuki about tears his sleeve could not contain.

oroka naru
namida zo sode ni
tama Fa nasu
ware Fa sekiaFezu
tagituse nareba
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:557)

Watching wan moonlight flooding tree limbs,
my heart also brims,
overflowing with autumn.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Watching wan moonlight
illuminate bare limbs,
my heart also brims,
overflowing with autumn.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation 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 (KKS XV:822), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Now bitterly I watch fierce winds
battering the rice stalks,
suspecting I'll never again
find anything to harvest.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XV:822), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

aki kaze ni
aFu tanomi koso
kanasikere
wa ga mi munasiku
narinu to omoFeba
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XV:822)

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, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Preferring Dreams to Reality

In eye-opening daylight
much stands revealed,
but when I see myself
reflected in hostile eyes
even dreams become nightmares.
Such wretchedness!
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:656), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Terrible reality!
You must do as you must, I suppose.
But even protected in dreams from prying eyes,
to watch you still pains me so!
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:656), loose translation/interpretation 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, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

ututu ni Fa
sa mo koso arame
yume ni saFe
Fitome wo moru to
miru ga wabisisa
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:656)

As I slept in isolation
my desired beloved appeared to me;
therefore, dreams have become my reality
and consolation.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:553), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

utatane ni
koFisiki Fito wo
mitesi yori
yume teFu mono Fa
tanomisometeki
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:553)

Did you appear
only because I was lost in love-thoughts
when I nodded off, day-dreaming of you?
(If I had known that you
couldn't possibly be true
I'd have never awakened!)
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:552), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I nodded off thinking about you
only to have you appear in my dreams.
Had I known that I slept,
I'd have never awakened!
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:552), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

omoFitutu
nureba ya Fito no
mieturan
yume to siriseba
samezaramasi wo
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:552)

Though I visit him nightly in my dreams,
the sum of all such ethereal trysts
is still less than one actual, solid glimpse.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:658), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Though I visit you
continually in my dreams,
the sum of all such ethereal trysts
is still less than one actual, solid glimpse.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:658), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I pursue you ceaselessly in my dreams…
yet we've never met; we're not even acquainted!
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:658), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

yumedi ni Fa
asi mo yasumezu
kayoFedomo
ututu ni Fitome
misi goto Fa arazu
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:658)

I think of you ceaselessly, with love…
and so … come to me tonight,
for in the flight of dreams,
no one can disapprove! 
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:657), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Yielding to a love
that recognizes no boundaries,
I will approach him by night—
for the world cannot despise
a vagabond dreamer.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:657), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Yielding to dreams of limitless love,
a love with no boundaries,
I shall come tonight on the uncensored path
of a vagabond dreamer.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:657), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

kagiri naki
omoFi no mama ni
yoru mo komu
yumedi wo saFe ni
Fito Fa togamezi
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:657)

Night Sweats and Desire

These moonless nights,
with no way to meet him,
I grow restless with longing:
my breast’s an inferno,
my heart chars within me.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIX:1030), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I would meet him tonight
but the moon lights no path;
my desire for him,
smoldering in my breast,
chars my heart to ash!
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIX:1030), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

These moonless nights,
when no star lights your way to me,
I lie awake, blazing with longing,
my breast an inferno,
while my heart chars within me.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIX:1030), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Fito ni aFamu
tuki no naki ni Fa
omoFiokite
mune Fasiribi ni
kokoroyake wori
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIX:1030)

Overwhelmed by desire
in the lily-seed darkness,
tonight I'll turn my robe inside-out.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:554), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I ache so intensely
in the lily-seed night
that I'll turn my yakuta inside-out.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:554), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Japanese folklore held that if you wore your nightclothes inside-out, you’d see the person you desired in your dreams. A yakuta is a casual version of the kimono tied loosely with a sash and worn for bathing and sleeping.

ito semete
koFisiki toki Fa
mubatama no
yoru no koromo wo
kaFesite zo kiru
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XII:554)

Sleepless with loneliness,
I find myself longing for the handsome moon.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Love and Loneliness

This unbreakable shackle, love,
chains me to this world of pain.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XVIII:939), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

That which men call "love" —
is it not merely the shackling chain
preventing my escape
from this world of pain?
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XVIII:939), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

This "love" men tout and proclaim—
is it not merely the shackles
preventing my escape from this world of pain?
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XVIII:939), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Love is man's most unbreakable bond.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XVIII:939), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

aFare teFu
koto koso utate
yo no naka wo
omoFiFanarenu
Fodasinarikere
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XVIII:939)

Fiery coals searing my body
hurt me far less than the sorrow of separation.
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XX:1104), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

oki no wite
mi wo yaku yori mo
kanasiki Fa
miyakosimabe no
wakare narikeri
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XX:1104)

Am I to spend the night alone
atop this summit,
cold and lost?
Won't you at least lend me
your robes of moss?
—Ono no Komachi (GSS XVII:1195), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

iFa no uFe
tabine wo sureba
ito samusi
koke no koromo wo
ware ni kasanan
—Ono no Komachi (GSS XVII:1195)

This abandoned mountain shack —
how many nights
has autumn sheltered there?
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

This vain life!
My looks and talents faded
like these cherry blossoms left limp
by endless dismal rains
that I now survey, alone.
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Fishermen

Since there’s obviously nothing to catch
in this barren bay,
how can he fail to understand—
this fisherman who persists in coming
until he collapses in the sand?
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:623), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

There’s nothing to catch here in this barren bay,
so how can he fail to understand—
this fisherman who persists in angling
until his weary legs collapse in the sand?
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:623), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

miru me naki
wa ga mi wo ura to
siraneba ya
karenade ama no
asi tayuku kuru
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:623)

Am I a guide to rural fisherfolk?
What do I care where the anemones dwell?
Why ask me to reveal the inlet,
lead you to some dewy shell?
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIV:727), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

What do I know of villages
where fisherfolk dwell?
Why do you keep demanding
that I lead you to the inlet,
guide you to some pearly shell?
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIV:727), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

ama no sumu
sato no sirube ni
aranaku ni
uramimu to nomi
Fito no iFuramu
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIV:727)

Compelled by my longing,
I boarded desire’s drifting boat;
where I now float aimlessly,
with wave-drenched sleeves.
—Ono no Komachi (GSS XI:779), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Oarless and rudderless,
beyond the help of the fisherfolk,
I’m wearied of crossing and re-crossing the sea...
—Ono no Komachi (GSS XV:1090), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Flowers blooming but never blossoming,
never ripening to fruits:
the ocean garlanded by whitecaps.
—Ono no Komachi (GSS XIX:1360), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Over-Hasty Dawn

Autumn nights are overrated,
for we had scarcely gazed into each other’s eyes
when the skies were immolated!
—Ono no Komachi (KKS XIII:635), loose translation/interpretation 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 (KKS XIII:635), loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

SOTOBA KOMACHI

Sotoba Komachi (卒塔婆小町) is a modern Noh play by Yukio Mishima (1925-1970). Mishima's play is based on an ancient work by Kan'ami Kiyotsugu (1333-1384). The kanji 卒塔婆 means "stupa" (the dome of a shrine) while the kanji 小町 means "belle" or "beautiful woman." So the title may be interpreted as something like "Beauty's Shrine" or "Shrine to Beauty." Kan'ami was the first playwright to incorporate the Kusemai song and dance style and Dengaku dances into plays. He founded a sarugaku theater group in the Kansai region of Honshu; the troupe later moved to Yamato and formed the Yuzaki theater company, which would become the school of Noh theater.

Excerpts from SOTOBA KOMACHI
by KWANAMI
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Priest of the Koyasan:

We who have built our homes on shallow slopes
now seek solitude in the heart's deep recesses.

Second Priest:

This single thought possessed me:
How I might bring a single seed to flower,
the wisdom of Buddha, the locus of our salvation,
until in despair I donned this dark cassock.

Ono no Komachi:

Lately so severed,
like a root-cut reed,
if the river offered,
why not be freed?

I would gladly go,
but here no wave stirs…

I was once full of pride
now fled with the years,

gone with dark tresses
and with lustrous locks;
I was lithe as a willow
in my springtime frocks;

I once sang like a nightingale
sipping dew;
I was wild as the rose
when the skies shone blue…

in those days before fall
when the long shadows grew.

But now I’ve grown loathsome
even to whores;
even urchins abhor me;
men treat me with scorn…


Now I am nothing
but a poor, withered bough,
and yet there are wildflowers
in my heart, even now.

Only my body lingers, for my heart left this world long ago!

Priests (together):

O, piteous, piteous!
Is this the once-fabled flower-bright Komachi,
Komachi the Beautiful,
whose dark brows bridged eyes like young moons;
her face whitest alabaster forever;
whose many damask robes filled cedar-scented closets?