[43] あひ (Ai)

 Poem Meaning and Background

Image of main characters from the manga "Hana yori Dango" 

あひみての・のちのこころに・くらぶれば

ai mite no・nochi no kokoro ni・kurabureba

むかしはものを・おもはざりけり

mukashi wa mono o・omowazari keri

〜権中納言敦忠 (Gon Chūnagon Atsutada)

Translation

I have met my love.

When I compare this present

With feelings of the past,

My passion is now as if

I have never loved before.

Meaning

At the time, relationships between nobility involved a lot of written correspondence before the two lovers would meet. As a custom, after two lovers would meet for the first time and spend the night together, the man would give his lover a poem the next morning. This particular type of poem is called 後朝の歌 (Kinuginu no uta; "the next morning poem"). This poem is Atsutada's kinuginu no uta. Therefore, when he says 逢ひ見て(ai mite),"met my love", he means not only literally meeting his lover, but also spending the night with her. The poet focuses on comparing his feelings before and after this meeting, and he is keenly aware of how much deeper and stronger his feelings of love have become.

In the second line 後の心 (nochi no kokoro) means his feelings or his heart after meeting his lover. In the second verse, 物を思はざりけり (mono o omowazari keri) means that his love has become so deep as to become unquantifiable. Particularly, 物を思う (mono o omou) means 恋のもの思い (koi no mono omoi), literally feelings of love. 

Author

Fujiwara no Atsutada (906 - 943) was a poet active in the mid-Heian Period as well as a nobleman. He held the title of Gon Chūnagon and was also famous for his good looks, poetic prowess, and many love affairs. Many of his poetry correspondences with women of the court still remain, including this poem. He had a relationship with Lady Ukon, author of [38] Wasura.