Old Folk 老人
あさなあさなみれどむかしのかげならで日にそへおいのますかがみかな
asana asana
miredo mukashi no
kage narade
hi ni soe oi no
masukagami kana | Each morn
I look, yet yesterday’s
Face fails to appear, and
With each passing day, old age
Is clear within my mirror! |
Tadafusa
Old Folk 老人
しくちひくあこのはまやに年ふりていやみにましばしめられにけり
shikuchi hiku
ako no hamaya ni
toshi furite
iyami ni mashiba
shimerarenikeri | Fishing for mullet
From a hut on Ako Beach
Have I got on in years, and
Detestation deeply
Is graven on my heart. |
Toshiyori
Old Folk 老人
朝露をひさしき物とおもふ世にほとけの兄にいかでなりけん
asatsuyu o
hisashiki mono to
omou yo ni
hotoke no ani ni
ikade nariken | My morning dew is
A thing of times long gone
I feel, but in this world
The Buddha’s four-score years and one
How might I attain? |
Nakazane
Old Folk 老人
いやましにひたひのなみはかくれどもきえてもとしのゆきつもるかな
iyamashi ni
hitai no nami wa
kakuredomo
kiete mo toshi no
yuki tsumoru kana | More and more
The waves upon my forehead
Do I seek to hide, yet
Though they vanish, the years
In drifts of snow appear! |
Akinaka
Singing Girls 妓女
あけぼのにかすみこめたる花よりもあかぬはいもがにほひなりけり
akebono ni
kasumi kometaru
hana yori mo
akanu wa imo ga
nioi narikeri | At the dawning
Mingled with the hazes are
The blossoms, yet far more
Unsated am I by my darling’s
Scent. |
Daishin
Singing Girls 妓女
からころもたちもはなれて朝夕にめかれずみれどあかぬいもかな
karakoromo
tachi mo hanarete
asayū ni
mekarezu miredo
akanu imo kana | Her Cathay robe is
Sewn so fine, that
Morning and evening, too
Endlessly, I see her, yet
My darling does never sate me! |
Higo
Singing Girls 妓女
をみなへしめでたき花のすがたかな衣通姫もかくやありけん
ominaeshi
medetaki hana no
sugata kana
sotōri hime mo
kaku ya ariken | These maidenflowers have
Fair blooming
Forms, indeed!
Was Princess Sotōri
As this, I wonder? |
Kanemasa
Singing Girls 妓女
をとめ子がいかにをかしきすがたにてみるたびごとにうちゑまるらん
otomego ga
ika ni okashiki
sugata nite
miru tabi goto ni
uchiemaruran | The maidens –
How charming are
Their forms, that
Every time I see them
I do seem to smile. |
Tadafusa
Singing Girls 妓女
をとめ子がをみのたもとにひれふりて返すま袖をしのばざらめや
otomego ga
omi no tamoto ni
hire furite
kaesu masode o
shinobazarame ya | From the maidens’
Gowns’ sleeves
Their stoles do wave;
The back and forth
I might not recall! |
Toshiyori
Singing Girls 妓女
絵にかくと筆もおよばじ乙女子が花のすがたを誰にみせまし
e ni kaku to
fude mo oyobaji
otomego ga
hana no sugata o
tare ni misemashi | A painted picture
No brush can match –
The maidens’
Blossoming forms:
To whom should I reveal? |
Nakazane
'Simply moving and elegant'