Envoys:
時はしもいつもあらむを心痛くい行く我妹かみどり子を置きて
| töki pa simo itu mo aramu wo kökörö itaku iyuku wagimo ka midöri ko wo okite |
Time There would always be, but My heart’s in pain- Did my darling leave? Abandoning our green child? |
Monthly Archives: October 2015
MYS III: 466
Another poem by Yakamochi, with tanka.
我がやどに 花ぞ咲きたる そを見れど 心もゆかず はしきやし 妹がありせば 水鴨なす ふたり竝び居 手折りても 見せましものを うつせみの 借れる身なれば 露霜の 消ぬるがごとく あしひきの 山道をさして 入日なす 隱りにしかば そこ思ふに 胸こそ痛き 言ひもえず 名づけも知らず 跡もなき 世閒にあれば 爲むすべもなし
| wa ga yado ni pana zö sakitaru so wo miredö kökörö mu yukazu pasikiyasi imo ga ariseba mikamo nasu putari narabiwi taworitemo misemasi monö wo utusemi nö kareru mï nareba tuyu simo nö kinuru ga götöku asipiki nö yamadi wo sasite iripi nasu kakuri ni sikaba sökö omopu ni mune kösö itaki ipi mo ezu naduke mo sirazu ato mo naki yo nö naka ni areba semusube mo nasi |
At my home The blossoms have flowered, Yet the sight Does not ease my heart. If my sweet Darling were here, Like mated ducks Paired side-by-side, we’d be; And if I plucked a spray, I would want to show it to her. As a cicada shell Is our fleeting flesh; As dew and frost It disappears; The foot-wearying Mountain paths she trod and, As the setting sun, Vanished. Thinking on it, Hurts my breast; I cannot speak I know not what name to give; Not a trace will be left Of the world of men, so There’s nothing to be done. |
MYS III: 465
MYS III: 464
Another poem composed by Yakamochi, on seeing fringed pinks on the flagstones.
秋去者 見乍思跡 妹之殖之 屋前乃石竹 開家流香聞
秋さらば見つつ偲へと妹が植ゑしやどのなでしこ咲きにけるかも
| aki saraba mitutu sinope tö imo ga uwesi yado nö nadesiko sakinikeru ka mo | “When the autumn comes Gaze on these and remember,” said she: My darling planted Pinks around my house; And now they bloom. |
MYS III: 463
MYS III: 462
A poem composed by Yakamochi, Lord Ōtomo, in the summer, Sixth Month 11th year [of Tempyō] (739), while mourning for his concubine, who had died.
今よりは秋風寒く吹きなむをいかにかひとり長き夜を寢む
| ima yori pa aki kaze samuku pukinamu wo ika ni kapitori nagaki yo wo nemu |
From now on Coldly autumn winds Will blow: How can I bear To sleep the long night through? |
New Herbs
MYS VIII: 1427
従明日者 春菜将採跡 標之野尓 昨日毛今日毛 雪波布利管
明日よりは春菜摘まむと標めし野に昨日も今日も雪は降りつつ
| asu yori pa paruna tumamu tö simesi no ni kinopu mo kepu mo yuki pa puritutu | From the morrow Would I pick spring greens But in my marked out fields Both yesterday and today The snow has kept on falling. |