Carpe Diem’s Distillation #2, A poem by Genji, from the wellknown Japanese novel “The Tale of Genji”
The poem is from Chapter 4, “Yuugao”. Prince Genji has a brief love affair with a young girl, called Yuugao. But there is another lady, deeply in love with Genji, who hates Yuugao so much that she dies. Yes, at that time people believed that hatred can kill people!
After the funeral of Yuugao, Genji is looking at the smoke from the pyre, and recites this poem:
mishi hito no
keburi o kumo to
nagamureba
yuube no sora mo
mutsumashiki ka na
keburi o kumo to
nagamureba
yuube no sora mo
mutsumashiki ka na
The evening sky itself
becomes something to cherish
when I gaze at it,
seeing in one of the clouds
the smoke from her funeral pyre
becomes something to cherish
when I gaze at it,
seeing in one of the clouds
the smoke from her funeral pyre
Here is my attempt at “distilling” it 🙂
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Hate unfurled her death
spirit departs,burning pyre
pain darkened evening
@Zebra Crossing 
Well captured; the emotions and the whole environment is painful, marked by the darkness of the evening. Good job!
Thank you my friend:-)
It’s haunting. And sad. Bravo!
Thank you Mariya:-)
Atreyee this is an awesome distillation … you’ve captured the sadness and dàrkness so very well. Thank you for your participation.
Kristjaan,you are so generous with your compliments-thank you so much-am encouraged to write more and more 🙂
your haiku captures the moment well. ♥
Thank you Sun:-)