One Thousand Summers

My fear is that you will forget your promise to never forget me, so I would prefer to die now while I am still happy. 

As my love first came to realisation, word had already spread.

As I wait for someone who will never come, my body burns like the seaweed drying on the shores of Matsuho.

So spring ends and summer comes, now white robes hang to dry on Mount Amanokagu.

Swift waters parted by the jagged rocks are joined at river’s end.

Impassionate gods have never seen crimson that lies in the Tatsuta River.

When winds send waves crashing against the rocks, I recall how my own efforts were in vain.

Note that though we may be apart, if I am to hear that you pine for me as the Inaba mountain pines, I shall return to you.

Like a boatsman adrift at the mouth of Yura, I do not know where this love will take me.

The sight of the lonely moon in the early morning reminds me of the lonely dawns after we parted. 

As the years pass, I will find myself longing for the sight of the midnight moon. 心にも あらで浮世に ながらへば 恋しかるべき 夜半の月かな