Sent back when the Jōtōmon Empress enquired after [Izumi Shikibu’s daughter] Koshikibu no Naishi after she had died, saying, ‘Send Me her Cathay robes patterned with dew spattered bush clover.’
をくと見しつゆもありけりはかなくてきえにし人をなにゝたとへん
| oku to mishi tsuyu mo arikeri hakanakute kienishi hito o nani ni tatoen |
Fallen, I saw The dew-and it’s still there; In fleeting moments She was gone and now To what can I compare her? |
Izumi Shikibu
和泉式部