Yamato monogatari 45

A further poem:

時雨のみふる山里の木の下はをる人からやもり過ぬらん

shigure nomi
furu yamazato no
ko no shita wa
oru hito kara ya
morisuginuran
Showers simply
Fall upon a mountain retreat
Beneath the trees;
Has someone gone astray there
To make them seem so endlessly thick?

When he received these, His Majesty was not of a mind to respond. I have heard that he read the poems then showed them to someone, saying, `What is this about?I don’t understand!’, so it is said they had no effect.

Yamato monogatari 42

The late Master of the Right Capital Office was Lord Muneyuki. While he was fretting over when he might achieve advancement, His Majesty, the Cloistered Teishi Emperor was presented with a stone with seaweed clinging to it from the province of Ki, and various people presented poems on the topic. The Master of the Right Capital Office composed

沖つ風ふけゐの浦にたつなみのなこりにさへや我はしつまん

oki tsu kaze
fukei no ura ni
tatsu nami no
nagori ni sae ya
ware wa shitsuman
From the offing the wind blows
Upon the beach at Fukei;
Will the breaking waves,
The wild waves, linger on and
Sink me beneath them?

Ise-shū 348

From the Master of the Right Capital Office, when the pinks were blooming in profusion.

我がそでにうつらばうつれてもやまずつみやいれましなでしこのはな

wa ga sode ni
utsuraba utsure
te mo yamazu
tsumi ya iremashi
nadeshiko no hana
If, to my sleeves
It is to shift, then let it!
My hand will not cease
To pick and I would tuck within
A flowering pink!

Minamoto no Muneyuki

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 20

Left (Tie)

われやうき人をこひぢになりぬればあはぬとだえに身をぞなしつる

ware ya uki
hito o koiji ni
narinureba
awanu todae ni
mi o zo nashitsuru
I, toward a heartless
Lady upon the paths of love
Did tread, but
As a broken bridge, no meeting
Has befallen me!

39

Right

ひたすらにわすれもぞするわすれぐさみずやあらましこひはしぬとも

hitasura ni
wasure mo zo suru
wasuregusa
mizu ya aramashi
koi wa shinu tomo
So completely
Am I forgotten by that
Forgetful day-lily—
She will not see me, it seems,
Though I die of love for her.

Mitsune
40

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 19

Left

つのくにのながらへゆかばわすれなくいまもみまくのほりえなるらむ

tsu no kuni no
nagara e yukaba
wasurenaku
ima mo mimaku no
horie naruramu
If, into the land of Tsu
To Nagara I go,
I’ll forget you not, and
Now to see you
More is what I want!

37

Right (Win)

ひさかたのくもゐはるかにありしよりそらにこころのなりにしものを

hisakata no
kumoi haruka ni
arishi yori
sora ni kokoro no
narinishi mono o
The eternal
Clouds distant
Ever were—so
In the skies, my heart
With them did dwell.

38

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 18

Left

あひみてはむつましくこそなるときけつれなさのみもまさるきみかな

aimite wa
mutsumashiku koso
naru to kike
tsurenasa nomi mo
masaru kimi kana
On meeting
So kind would
She become, I heard, but
Simply in cruelty does
That lady excel!

35

Right (Win)

あかずしてわかれし人をゆめにみてうつつにさへもおつるなみだか

akazushite
wakareshi hito o
yume ni mite
utsutsu ni sae mo
otsuru namida ka
Unsated
Did I part from her to
See her in my dreams, but
Even in the waking world
Will my tears fall?

36

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 17

Left (Tie)

あふことのいまはかたほになるふねのかざままつ身はよるかたもなし

au koto no
ima wa katao ni
naru fune no
kazama matsu mi wa
yoru kata mo nashi
Meeting you has made me
Now a reef-sailed
Boat
Awaiting the wind, with
No course to set.

33

Right

ねでまちしはつかのつきのはつかにもあひみしことをいつかわすれむ

nede machishi
hatsuka no tsuki no
hatsuka ni mo
aimishi koto o
itsuka wasuremu
Sleepless I awaited
The twentieth night’s moon, when
In the dimness
We did meet—
When might I forget it?

34

Sahyōe no suke sadafumi uta’awase 16

Love on Meeting

Left (Win)

人ごころいまはかぎりになりぬればみるこそみぬにおとらざりけれ

hitogokoro
ima wa kagiri ni
narinureba
miru koso minu ni
otorazarikere
My human heart
Now has its bound
Reached, so
Seeing you compared to not
Is no worse!

31

Right

わかれてはのちぞかなしきにごりえのそこともしらぬありかとおもへは

wakarete wa
nochi zo kanashiki
nigorie no
soko to mo shiranu
arika to omoeba
Parting does
Later bring such sadness:
A muddy inlet’s
Depths leave me unknowing
Of where she is, so…

Mitsune
32