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d="5c9c">MY constancy to her I love I never will forsake; As surely as the Palace Guards Each night their watch-fire make And guard it till daybreak.</p><p id="c773">Just like the torch fire burns hard at night, the two lovers’ night is blazing.</p><p id="0eac">Prompted by <a href="undefined">Sahil Patel</a>’s article. Thank you for your prompt!</p><div id="0c8b" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/fire-is-contradictory-in-the-world-of-nature-92871d292a88"> <div> <div> <h2>Fire is Contradictory in The World of Nature</h2> <div><h3>Nature prompt: Fourth week of February</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*e5AR1rRj7bNtFgYC)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="83f4">Fires deserve our healthy respect. Thank you, <a href="undefined">Joyce Nielsen</a>, for your article!</p><div id="3dbc" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-can-beautiful-flames-attract-and-repel-us-6f652e9b53ad"> <div> <div> <h2>How Can Beautiful Flames Attract and Repel Us?</h2> <div><h3>A friendly

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fire makes me feel good</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*L1a_TsqY-xo5AIRYPtoiIQ.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="96ef">Source: <a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/hvj/hvj050.htm"><i>A Hundred Verses from Old Japan (The Hyakunin-isshu)</i>, tr. by William N. Porter, [1909], at sacred-texts.com</a></p><div id="c44d" class="link-block"> <a href="https://akemisagawa.medium.com/membership"> <div> <div> <h2>Join Medium with my referral link - Akemi Sagawa</h2> <div><h3>Read every story from Akemi Sagawa (and thousands of other writers on Medium). Your membership fee directly supports…</h3></div> <div><p>akemisagawa.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*1yo40Ly1cw5QCO-w)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="0116"><i>Originally published at <a href="https://akemisagawa.com/burning-fire-like-burning-love/">https://akemisagawa.com</a> on March 1, 2023.</i></p></article></body>

Burning Fire, Like Burning Love

Found in a Poem from Hyakunin Isshu

Photo by Vinicius “amnx” Amano on Unsplash

What did ancient Japanese associate with the burning fire? Let me refer to Hyakunin Isshu 百人一首, the classical Japanese anthology of one hundred waka poems by one hundred poets compiled in the 13th century. Yes, I found one! What’s the theme?

You guessed right. One of the 43 poems that read about love! I told you, that ancient Japanese people were more direct in expressing their passionate love.

49/100大中臣能宣 by Onakatomi no Yoshinobu Ason

みかきもり Mikakimori 衛士のたく火の Eji no taku hi no 夜は燃え Yoru ha moe 昼は消えつつ Hiru ha kietsutsu 物をこそ思へ Mono wo koso omoe

The following is the English translation by William N. Porter (1909)

MY constancy to her I love I never will forsake; As surely as the Palace Guards Each night their watch-fire make And guard it till daybreak.

Just like the torch fire burns hard at night, the two lovers’ night is blazing.

Prompted by Sahil Patel’s article. Thank you for your prompt!

Fires deserve our healthy respect. Thank you, Joyce Nielsen, for your article!

Source: A Hundred Verses from Old Japan (The Hyakunin-isshu), tr. by William N. Porter, [1909], at sacred-texts.com

Originally published at https://akemisagawa.com on March 1, 2023.

Nature
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Fire
Love
Tanka
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