[21] いまこ (Imako)

Poem Meaning and Background

Photo by Javier Gonzalez on Unsplash

いまこむと・いひしばかりに・ながつきの

ima kon to・ iishi bakari ni ・nagatsuki no

ありあけのつきを・まちいでつるかな

ariake no tsuki o・ machi idetsuru kana

~素性法師（Sosei Hōshi)

Translation

Just because he said

"In a moment I will come",

I've awaited him

Until the moon of daybreak,

In the long month, has appeared.

Meaning

    When this poem was written, it was standard practice that when it comes to love and marriage, men would make visits to women, but not the other way around. This means women could only wait for their lover to come. The original English translation for this poem said "I've awaited her", but I changed the pronouns since in this context, it is more likely that the author is writing this poem from the point of view of a woman awaiting her lover who has promised to come. 

    There are two main interpretations of how long the speaker of the poem has been waiting. One is that she only waited through one night, until the "moon of daybreak" appeared. "Ariake tsuki" or "moon of daybreak" refers to when the moon remains in the sky even after the sun has come up. The other interpretation is that she waited every night for a month, until 長月（nagatsuki）, the 9th month of Japan's lunar calendar, which equates to late autumn or September. 

    Either way, this poem is filled with the loneliness and helplessness of the speaker who can do nothing but wait, night after night, for a lover who has not yet returned despite the promise that he made. She is compelled to wait for him, but as readers we feel that her love is likely a lost cause. 

Author

Sosei (c. 844-910) was a priest and waka poet and is counted among the 36 Immortals of Poetry. His father was Sōjō Henjō, author of poem [12] Amatsu.