Cranes.

さはべより雲ゐにかよふあしたづもうきことあれやねのみなくらん

sawabe yori kumoi ni kayou ashitazu mo uki koto are ya ne nomi nakuran

From the marsh’s edge Back and forth to the clouds go Cranes from the reeds— Have they some heartbreak, that Makes them simply cry so?[i]

707

---

[i] See: Her reply. あしたづのくもゐにかかる心あらば世をへてさはにすまずぞあらまし ashitazu no / kumoi ni kakaru / kokoro araba / yo o hete sawa ni / sumazu zo aramashi ‘If, among the reeds, a crane / Toward the clouds / Had set his heart, then / Passing ages within the marsh, and / Dwelling there he surely would not!’ Princess Isoko (Gosenshū XI: 754)