Composed as a Spring poem.
花の色はかすみにこめて見せずともかをだにぬすめ春の山かぜ
Fana no iro Fa
kasumi ni komete
misezu to mo
ka wo dani nusume
Faru no yama kaze |
The colours of the flowers
Lie shrouded in the mists
If you can’t reveal them, then
Steal their scent, at least,
Mountain spring-breeze. |
Yoshimine no Munesada
良岑宗貞
A poem by the Nara Emperor.
ふるさととなりにしならのみやこにも色はかはらず花はさきけり
Furusato to
narinisi nara no
miyako ni mo
iro Fa kaFarazu
Fana Fa sakikeri |
A former home,
It has become: Nara,
Capital as was, yet even there
The colours are as they ever were
When the flowers bloom. |
Emperor Heijō
Topic unknown.
春雨のふるは涙かさくら花ちるををしまぬ人しなければ
Farusame no
Furu Fa namida ka
sakurabana
tiru wo wosimanu
Fito si nakereba |
The spring showers
Falling, are they tears?
Cherry blossoms
Scattered and unmourned-
There’s no one so hard hearted. |
Ōtomo no Kuronushi (late 9th Century)
大友黒主
Composed on the cherry blossoms falling.
久方のひかりのどけき春の日にしづ心なく花のちるらむ
Fisakata no
Fikari nodokeki
Faru no Fi ni
sizugokoronaku
Fana no tiruran |
When the e’er lasting
Light shines gently
From the sun in springtime,
Why should, with unquiet hearts,
The blossoms scatter? |
Ki no Tomonori (Fl. ?850-?904)
紀友則
Topic unknown.
のこりなくちるぞめでたきさくら花有りて世中はてのうければ
nokorinaku
tiru zo medetaki
sakurabana
arite yo no naka
Fate no ukereba |
Every single one
Will fall! How wonderful are
Cherry blossoms:
For to remain in this world of ours
Until the bitter end is hateful. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
まてといふにちらでしとまる物ならばなにをさくらに思ひまさまし
mate to ifu ni
tirade si tomaru
mono naraba
nani wo sakura ni
omoFimasamasi |
When I say, “Wait!”
They do not fall, but stay.
Were that to be,
What more than blossoming cherries
Could fill my thoughts? |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
春霞たなびくやまのさくら花うつろはむとや色かはり行く
Farukasumi
tanabiku yama no
sakurabana
uturoFamu to ya
iro kaFariyuku |
Spring mist
Trails across the mountains’
Cherry blossoms:
Are they to vanish
With the changing colours? |
Anonymous
His reply.
けふこずはあすは雪とぞふりなまし消えずは有りとも花とみましや
keFu kozu Fa
asu Fa yuki to zo
Furinamasi
kiezu Fa ari tomo
Fana to mimasi ya |
Had I not come today,
Tomorrow, in a blizzard
They might be falling.
Not to melt away, but,
Would they still seem the flowers? |
Ariwara no Narihira
在原業平
Composed when a man from whom she had heard nothing for a long time came calling when the cherries were blooming most abundantly.
あだなりと名にこそたてれ櫻花年にまれたる人もまちけり
adanari to
na ni koso tatere
sakurabana
tosi ni maretaru
Fito mo matikeri | Most fragile flowers
Are they called,
These cherries,
Appearing only once a year
The man I’ve waited for. |
Anonymous
Composed while gazing at the capital, filled with a profusion of blossom,
みわたせば柳櫻をこぎまぜて宮こぞ春の錦なりける
miwataseba
yanagi zakura wo
kogimazete
miyako zo Faru no
nisiki narikeru |
Looking out across
The willows and the cherries
All intermingled in
The capital: this spring
They are a fine brocade. |
The Monk Sosei
素性法師
'Simply moving and elegant'