On the conception of Love on a First Meeting.
いまよりも心ながさを頼まなむつらきをだにも恨みやはせし
ima yori mo
kokoro nagasa o
tanomanamu
tsuraki o dani mo
urami ya wa seshi | From now
On your faithfulness
Will I rely!
Or your cruelty –
Will that be what I despise? |
Senior Assistant Governor General of Dazai [Fujiwara no] Shige’ie
太宰大弐重家
(1128-1181)
On Love on Meeting.
もの思ひは今朝こそまされつらかりしことは事にもあらぬなりけり
mono’omoi wa
kesa koso masare
tsurakarishi
koto wa koto ni mo
aranu narikeri | My thoughts do
Entirely overwhelm me this morning;
For all that was hard to bear,
All those things are
Quite gone! |
Koben
小弁
Love Closely Nearby.
紅の裾引くほどの宿なれど色にいでなば人に知られじ
kurenawi no
suso Fiku Fodo no
yado naredo
iro ni idenaba
Fito ni shirarezi | Her scarlet
Hem could I tug upon, so close
Do we dwell, yet
If my passion’s hues were to show,
I would folk did never know… |
Fujiwara no Kiyosuke (1104-1177)
藤原清輔
Breaking off a branch of plum blossom, he sent it to a certain person.
君ならで誰にかみせん梅花色をも香をも知る人ぞ知る
kimi narade
tare ni ka misen
mume no Fana
iro wo mo ka wo mo
siru Fito zo siru | If not to you
Then to whom should I present
Plum blossoms?
For their shades and their scent both,
It is you who know them best of all… |
Tomonori
On the moonlight flooding over a ruined place
かくばかり風は吹けども板の間もあはぬは月の影さへぞもる
kaku bakari
kaze Fa Fukedomo
ita no ma mo
aFanu Fa tuki no
kage saFe zo miru | So strongly
Blows the wind, yet
From between the boards, where
They fail to meet, it is the moon’s
Light that I do see! |
Izumi Shikibu
和泉式部
'Simply moving and elegant'