The Ink Dark Moon Quotes

“Even if I now saw you
only once,
I would long for you
through worlds,
worlds.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Even when a river of tears
courses through
this body,
the flame of love
cannot be quenched.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Watching the moon
at dawn,
solitary, mid-sky,
I knew myself completely,
no part left out.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“The one close to me now,
even my own body-
these too
will soon become clouds,
floating in different directions.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Is this love reality
Or a dream?
I cannot know,
When both reality and dreams
Exist without truly existing.”
― Ono no Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Things I Want Decided

Which shouldn't exist
in this world,
the one who forgets
or the one
who is forgotten?

Which is better,
to love
one who has died
or not to see
each other when you're alive?

Which is better,
the distant lover
you long for
or the one you see daily
without desire?

Which is the least unreliable
among fickle things —
the swift rapids,
a flowing river,
or this human world?”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Nothing
in the world
is usual today.
This is
the first morning.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Although the wind
blows terribly here,
the moonlight also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“What is it about this twilight hour? Even the sound of a barely perceptible breeze pierces the heart.”
― Ono No Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“For a moment
he became smoke.
How intimate,
now,
the cloudy sky.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“If the one I waited for
came now, what should I do?
This morning's garden filled with snow
is far too lovely
for footsteps to mar.”
― Izumi Shikibu , The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“However wildly
this year's cherry blossoms bloom,
I'll see them
with the plum's scent
filling my heart.”
― Ono no Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Rather than recall
in these flowers
the fragrance of the past,
I would like to hear this nightingale's voice,
to know if his song is as sweet.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“This heart,
Longing for you,
Breaks
To a thousand pieces-
I wouldn’t lose one.”
― Ono no Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“The way I must enter
leads through darkness to darkness-
O moon above the mountain's rim,
please shine a little further
on my path,”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“When the netted fence of spiderwebs
that darkens my ruined house
can hold the wind in its strands-
that's when these troubled thoughts
will blow away. . . .”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Although
the cricket's song
has no words,
still,
it sounds like sorrow.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Though we knew each other without overlapping our clothes, still, with this autumn wind’s sound, I find myself waiting for you.”
― Ono No Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“This pine tree by the rock
Must have its memories too:
After a thousand years,
See how its branches
Lean towards the ground.”
― Ono no Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“When my desire
grows too fierce
I wear my bed clothes
inside out,
dark as the night’s rough husk.”
― Ono No Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Undisturbed, my garden fills with summer growth— how I wish for one who would push the deep grass aside.”
― Ono No Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Why haven’t I
Thought of this before?
This body,
Remembering yours,
Is the keepsake you left.”
― Ono no Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“It is poetry which effortlessly moves the heavens and the earth, awakens the world of invisible spirits to deep feeling, softens the relationship between men and women, and consoles the hearts of fierce warriors.”
― Ono no Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Perhaps, if I make a friend
of the mountain cuckoo
in this world,
he will talk to me
when we cross the mountain of death”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“I’ve traveled
That dark path to the world
Which comes down from this mountain
Just to see you
One last time.”
― Ono no Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“O Spider Lily
That grows on the mountain
Called Waiting,
Is there someone you also
Promised to meet this autumn?”
― Ono no Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Seeing the moonlight
Spilling down
Through these trees,
My heart fills to the brim
With autumn.”
― Ono no Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Why did you vanish
Into empty sky?
Even the fragile snow,
When it falls,
Falls in this world.”
― Ono no Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“When the autumn wind
Blows down from Tokiwa Mountain,
My body fills, as if blushing,
With the color and scent
Of pine.”
― Ono no Komachi, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan

“Wishing to see him
to be seen by him -
if only he
were the mirror
I face each morning.”
― Izumi Shikibu, The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan