[38] わすら (Wasura)

 Poem Meaning and Background

Screenshot of the anime "Inuyasha", from IMBD

わすらるる・みをばおもはず・ちかひてし

wasuraruru・mi o ba omowazu・chikaite shi

ひとのいのちの・をしくもあるかな

hito no inochi no・oshiku mo aru kana

〜右近 (Ukon)

Translation

Though he forsook me,

For myself I do not care:

He made a promise,

And now his life, once forsworn,

Is forfeit; how pitiful.

Meaning

In the Heian Period, both Shintoism and Buddhism were common practice, and it was thought that if one broke a promise to the gods that that person would receive divine punishment and could even lose their life. In this poem, the author and her lover made an oath to always love one another: an oath that the author's lover seems to have broken. The author pities her former lover, who by breaking his promise has condemned himself and ostensibly thrown his life away. The writer's pity can be read either as sincere or cynical, or perhaps more accurately, as a complex mix of both.

Wasuraruru means 忘られてしまう (wasurarete shimau): "I have been forgotten". Mi o ba omowazu (身をば思わず) has pretty much the exact meaning of the second line of the English translation: whatever happens to me, I don't care at all. Chikaite shi (誓ひてし）means that both of them had sworn to the gods that their love was eternal. Oshiku mo aru kana in Japanese means 惜しまれることです (oshimareru koto desu) which in English means "it is regrettable/lamentable/pitiable". 

Author

A depiction of the author and
her poem by the artist Agameishi

Lady Ukon (dates unknown) was a lady in waiting to Lady Onshi, a consort of Emperor Daigo. She was known for having many romances in her lifetime. The lover she is referring to in this poem is believed to be Fujiwara no Atsutada, author of poem [43] Ai, who was known for his good looks and many love affairs.