The Buddhist saying, Inadzuma no hikari, ishi no hi (lightning-flash and flint-spark),—symbolizing the temporary nature of all pleasures,—is here playfully referred to. The song complains of a too brief meeting with sweet-heart or lover.
His very sweetness itself makes my existence a burden!
Truly this world of change is a world of constant woe![18]
[18] Words of a loving but jealous woman, thus interpreted by my Japanese friend: "The more kind he is, the more his kindness overwhelms me with anxiety lest he be equally tender to other girls who may also fall in love with him."
Neither for youth nor age is fixed the life of the body;
—Bidding me wait for a time is the word that forever divides.[19]
Rō-shō fujō no
Mi dé ari nagara,
Jisetsu maté to wa
Kiré-kotoba.
Lit.: "Old-young not-fixed-of body being, time-wait to-say, cutting-word." Ro-shō fujō is a Buddhist phrase. The meaning of the song is: "Since all things in this world are uncertain, asking me to wait for our marriage-day means that you do not really love me;—for either of us might die before the time you speak of."
Only too well I know that to meet will cause more weeping;[20]
Yet never to meet at all were sorrow too great to bear.
[20] Allusion is made to the Buddhist text, Shōja hitsu metsu, esha jōri ("Whosoever is born must die, and all who meet must as surely part"), and to the religious phrase, Ai betsu ri ku ("Sorrow of parting and pain of separation").
Too joyful in union to think, we forget that the smiles of the evening
Sometimes themselves become the sources of morning-tears.