[54] わすれ (Wasure)

Poem Meaning and Background

"The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt

わすれじの・ゆくすえまでは・かたければ

wasureji no・yukusue made wa・katakereba

きふをかぎりの・いのちともがな

kyo o kagiri no・inochi to mo gana

〜 儀同三司母（Gidō Sanshi no Haha）
The Mother of Fujiwara no Korechika, Lady Kishi

Translation

If remembering me

Will for him in future years

Be too difficult,

It would be well this very day

That I should end my life.

Meaning

The author wrote this poem soon after her marriage to Fujiwara no Michitaka, who was a prominent noble, and also apparently good looking, making him quite popular. Though he vowed that he would never forget her, and that his feelings for her would never change, she still worried that he would move on from her in the future. Her poem is expressing that she would prefer to die now, happily, while her lover still thought only of her, rather than live to see the day when he forgot her or no longer cared for her in the same way. 

McMillan translates this poem as: 
"You promise you'll never forget, but to the end of time is too long to ask. So let me die today―still loved by you"[1] Though there is some joy in knowing that the man she loves also loves her in return, this happiness is eclipsed by a sense of dread that one day his feelings for her will change. This thought is so painful that she would rather give up her life then ever have to experience this loss. 

At the beginning of the poem, 忘れじの（wasureji no) means "that you will not forget [me]", with the じacting to make the meaning of わすれ negative. 行く末までは（yukusue made wa) means in the future, or, like in the second translation, until "the end of time". かたければ (katakereba) means it is difficult, and the term かたし（katashi)  means something is difficult or rare. The last phrase もがな (mogana) appears in several of the poems in the anthology, and it is used to express the author's wish or desire. In this case, the author wishes that her life would end on this day, while she is still cared for deeply by her husband. 

Author

Takashina no Takako (birth date unknown ~ 996) is referred to as Gidō Sanshi no Haha, or "The Mother of Fujiwara no Korichika" (her 3rd son). Korichika was a noble, and one of his titles was Gidō Sanshi. The author's given name ,Takako, is sometimes read as "Kishi", so she is also sometimes referred to as "Lady Kishi". 

She had at least 7 children with her husband, and her first daughter, Fujiwara no Teishi married Emperor Ichijō and she appears in the Pillow Book, authored by Sei Shonagon, who authored [62] Yoo. Her husband, Fujiwara no Michitaka, was one of the sons of Fujiwara no Kaneie, husband of the woman who authored [53] Nageki, though Michitaka was the son of a different wife. 

Reference:
[1] McMillan, Peter. 2010 (1st ed. 2008). One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each. New York: Columbia University Press.