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Hyakunin Isshu No. 59 · Akazome EmonYasurawade

“Watching the Moon Till It Leaned West” — Akazome EmonSource: Goshūishū, Love II · 680
やすらはで 寝なましものを さ夜更けて
かたぶくまでの 月を見しかな
Yasurawade nenamashi mono o sayo fukete
katabuku made no tsuki o mishi kana
Had I known, I would have gone to sleep without hesitating —
instead the night deepened, and I watched the moon till it leaned low.
Hyakunin IsshuGoshūi WakashūLoveWaitingLamentA room where one waits for the moon at night
Yasurawade jacket art▶

What the poem says

I should have gone to sleep without hesitating. Instead I waited for you, until at last I watched the moon sink in the west.

Music Video

ミュージックビデオ

The Story

歌のものがたり

Historical Background

Akazome Emon was a lady-in-waiting poet, a contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu and Izumi Shikibu. She served Rinshi, wife of Fujiwara no Michinaga, and their daughter Shōshi — a first-rate woman of letters of her day. She was also known for her devoted marriage to the scholar Ōe no Masahira. What makes this poem interesting is that it is not actually about her own love. It is a "daiei" — a poem composed on someone else's behalf — written the next morning and sent off in place of her sister, who had been left waiting all night by Fujiwara no Michitaka after he said "I'll come" and never appeared. The elder sister put her younger sister's frustration into words in the finest possible form. Without once saying "I waited," she lets the position of the moon sinking in the west tell the whole length of the night — a poem in which Akazome Emon's intelligence shines, turning a reproach into beauty.

The Poet's Heart

- A poem composed on another's behalf, in place of her sister, who was left waiting by Fujiwara no Michitaka. The elder sister put the younger's frustration into words in the finest possible form - The beauty of restraint: without once saying "I waited," the position of the sinking moon alone tells the length of the night - In "nenamashi mono o" (I should have simply gone to sleep) echoes the tradition of dream-love: "had I slept, I could have met you in a dream" - Akazome Emon was a lady-in-waiting poet, a contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu and Izumi Shikibu. Devoted wife of Ōe no Masahira. A woman of intellect and refinement

What We Put into the Lyrics

A message that says "be right there" — and then the screen stays dark. I should just sleep, but under the moonlight through the curtain I keep checking my phone — we laid this over the modern "night of waiting." A night when you delete the half-typed "still awake?" and bury your face in the pillow. In the Bridge we go inside the misu (bamboo blind), lit by moonlight alone. The curtain and the blind: on two windowsills a thousand years apart, the same moonlight falls. There was once someone who took a night of waiting for a man who never came, made it into a poem, and smiled. Then in the Final Chorus, this song flips the defeat of being stood up into a victory — "It was I who chose to wait, and that's all right. I watched the beauty of the sinking moon, your share as well as mine." The moon you missed by not coming — I watched it for you. The moment a reproach turns into a gift.

Lyrics

歌詞
Japanese

やすらはで（後拾遺集/赤染衛門・百人一首59番）Garu JP

Verse 1

「すぐ行くよ」って メッセージ

それきり画面は 暗いまま

先に寝てれば よかったのに

カーテン越しに 月あかり

Pre-Chorus

待ってるなんて 認めたくなくて

「起きてただけ」と 言い訳してた

Chorus

やすらはで 寝なましものを

さ夜ふけて ひとり

かたぶくまでの 月を見てた

来ないとわかって いたのなら

夢の中で 会えたのに

Verse 2

送りかけた 「まだ起きてる？」

消して枕に 顔をうずめる

怒ればいいのか 笑えばいいのか

月だけが 付き合ってくれた

Pre-Chorus 2

恨んでるわけじゃ ないんだよ

ただ夜だけが 長すぎた

Chorus 2

やすらはで 寝なましものを

さ夜ふけて まだ

かたぶくまでの 月を見てる

「おやすみ」さえ 来ないまま

西の空が 白んでいく

Bridge

月あかりだけの 御簾の内で

同じ月を 見上げた人がいた

来ない人を 待った夜のことを

歌にして 笑ってみせた

Drop

やすらはで 寝なましものを さ夜ふけて

かたぶくまでの 月を見しかな

Final Chorus

やすらはで 寝ないでいたのは

待つことを 選んだのは

私だった それでもいいの

傾く月の 美しさを

あなたの分まで 見ていたの

Outro

かたぶくまでの……

月を見しかな

English

Yasurawade (Goshui Wakashu / Hyakunin Isshu No.59) Garu JP

"Be right there," said your message

And since then the screen has stayed dark

I should have just gone to sleep

Moonlight seeps through the curtains

I didn't want to admit I was waiting

"I just happened to be up," I told myself

Without hesitating, I should have slept

The night deepens, and I'm alone

Watching the moon till it tilted low

If I had known you wouldn't come

I could have met you in my dreams

I almost sent "Are you still up?"

Deleted it, buried my face in the pillow

Should I be angry? Should I laugh?

Only the moon kept me company

It's not that I resent you

The night was simply far too long

Without hesitating, I should have slept

The night deepens, and still

I watch the moon tilting low

Not even a "good night" arrives

The western sky begins to pale

Behind a bamboo blind lit only by the moon

Someone gazed up at this same moon

And the night she spent waiting in vain

She turned into a poem, and smiled

Without hesitating I should have slept — the night deepened

And I watched the moon till it tilted low

Staying awake instead of sleeping

Choosing to wait for you

That was me — and that's all right

The beauty of the tilting moon

I watched it for your share as well

Till it tilted low...

I watched the moon

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