Ono no Komachi, KKS:554 (Love)
When my desire
grows too fierce
I wear my bedclothes
inside out,
dark as the night's rough husk.
(Tr. ??)
***
When longing for him
Tortures me beyond endurance,
I reverse my robe --
Garb of night, black as leopard-flower berries --
And wear it inside out.
(Tr. Helen Craig McCullough)
| Folk beliefs had it that wearing the robe inside out when going to bed would make the person dream of the other. |
