An ancient temple’s bell.
波の音にうちまじりても聞えけり石山寺の入あひのかね
nami no oto ni
uchimajiritemo
kikoekeri
ishiyamadera no
iriai no kane | With it the sound of waves
Is blended, yet
I heard it still—
At Ishiyamadera
The tolling of the sunset bell. |
Kinoshite Takafumi
East
朝日かげのぼる梢をから人のあふぎそめてもいく世経ぬらん
asahi kage
noboru kozue o
karabito no
ōgi somete mo
iku yo henuran | The morning sunlight
Climbing through the treetops
Is as a Cathay
Fan: so dyed
How many are the ages passed? |
Kanō Morohira
加納諸平
山寺のあか月がたの鐘のおとをわがおもふことなるときかばや
yamadera no
akatsukigata no
kane no oto o
wa ga omou koto
naru to kikaba ya | At a mountain temple
Toward the edge of dawn
The tolling of the bell
Becomes the focus of my thoughts—
Is that what I hear? |
Fujiwara no Sadayori
[One of] twenty-four poems sent by Lady Kasa to Ōtomo no Yakamochi.
不相念 人乎思者 大寺之 餓鬼之後尓 額衝如
相思はぬ人を思ふは大寺の餓鬼の後方に額つくごとし
ai’omopanu
pito wo omopu pa
opotera no
gaki no siripe ni
nuka tuku gotosi | He loves me not:
Loving that man is like
Being at a grand temple and
Behind a hungry ghost
Making obeisance! |
A poem sent by Princess Tajima, when Prince Hozumi was despatched to the Shiga mountain temple in Ōmi, by imperial command.
遺居<而> 戀管不有者 追及武 道之阿廻尓 標結吾勢
後れ居て恋ひつつあらずは追ひ及かむ道の隈廻に標結へ我が背
okure’wite
koitutu arazu pa
opisikamu
miti no kumami ni
sime yupe wa ga se | Left behind and
Ever in love, am I not, so
I shall follow you;
At every turn along your road
Leave me tied a sign, o, darling. |
A poem composed on an ancient estate by Prince Nagaya.
吾背子我 古家乃里之 明日香庭 乳鳥鳴成 <嬬>待不得而
我が背子が古家の里の明日香には千鳥鳴くなり妻待ちかねて
wa ga seko ga
purupe no sato no
asuka ni pa
tidori nakunari
tuma matikanete | In that dear man’s
Ancient estate home
At Asuka
Plovers are crying,
Impatiently awaiting their mates… |
A poem composed by Prince Ōtsu, weeping, at Iware Pond, when he was due to die.
百傳 磐余池尓 鳴鴨乎 今日耳見哉 雲隠去牟
百伝ふ磐余の池に鳴く鴨を今日のみ見てや雲隠りなむ
momo tutapu
ipare no ike ni
naku kamo wo
kepu nomi mite ya
kumogakurinamu | A hundred tales
Told at Iware Pond
By the crying ducks
Do I see, today, at the last
As I vanish beyond the clouds? |
Inlets.
はらのいけに生ふるたまものかりそめにきみを我がおもふ物ならなくに
hara no ike ni
ouru tamamo no
karisome ni
kimi o wa ga omou
mono naranaku ni | In Hara Pond
Grows gemweed:
Carelessly to pick it—
My love for you is
No such thing, so… |
Anonymous
Coming yet not meeting.
そのはらやふせやに生ふるははきぎのありとてゆけど逢はぬ君かな
sonohara ya
fuseya ni ouru
hahagkigi no
ari tote yukedo
awanu kimi kana | At Sonohara
By the rest-stop grows
A sacred tree, they say;
I travel there, yet
With you I will not meet! |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
浦ちかく波のうちよるさざれ石のなかの思ひとしるやしらずや
ura chikaku
nami uchiyoru
sazare’ishi no
naka no omoi to
shiru ya shirazu ya | Close by the shore
The waves breaking upon
The pebbles:
The fires of passion within
Do they know them, or know them not? |
Ise
'Simply moving and elegant'