When he went to the Unrin’in to view the cherry blossom, it was all scattered with but a single branch left.
たづねつる花も我が身もおとろへてのちの春ともえこそちぎらね
| tazunetsuru hana mo wa ga mi mo otoroete nochi no haru to mo e koso chigirane | Paying a visit on The blossom, I, too, Am fading fast; That we will meet in springs to come Is not a promise I can make… |
Monk Ryōzen
Round Forty-Eight
Left
みかのはらわきてながるるいづみ河いつみきとてか恋しかるらん
| mika no hara wakite nagaruru izumigawa itsu miki tote ka koishikaruran | Across the fields at Mika Runs The river Kizu When was it there we met That I should love you so? |
95[i]
Right
いかりおろすかたこそなけれいせの海のしほひにかかるあまのつり舟
| ikari orosu kata koso nakere ise no umi no shiohi ni kakaru ama no tsuribune | To drop anchor Is there no way at all, so At the sea off Ise Caught by the lowering tide are The seafolk’s fishing boats… |
96[ii]
[i] SKKS XI: 996: Topic unknown.
[ii] This poem is not listed as occurring in any other anthology, or collection.
Round Forty-Seven
Left
あふさかの木のした露にぬれしよりわが衣手はいつもかわかず
| ausaka no ko no shitazuyu ni nureshi yori wa ga koromode wa itsumo kawakazu | Meeting Hill’s Trees drip dewdrops and Have soaked me, so My sleeves Never will be dry. |
93[i]
Right
わが恋はあまのかるもにみだれつつかわく間もなきなみのした草
| wa ga koi wa ama no karu mo ni midaretsutsu kawaku ma mo naki nami no shitagusa | My love is as The seaweed reaped by fisherfolk: Ever confused, and Dry for not a moment— A grass growing ‘neath the waves. |
94[ii]
[i] GSS XI: 723: When, due to a confidential matter, he became unable to meet with a woman he had finally become able to see, he sent this.
[ii] SZS XIII: 793: Composed as a love poem, when he held a poetry match at his residence, when he was a Middle Captain.
Composed as a love poem, when he held a poetry match at his residence, when he was a Middle Captain.
わが恋はあまのかるもにみだれつつかわく間もなきなみのした草
| wa ga koFi Fa ama no karu mo ni midaretutu kawaku ma mo naki nami no sitagusa | My love is as Seaweed reaped by fisherfolk Ever tangled, and Not a moment dry, Weeds beneath the waves… |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Toshitada
When, due to a confidential matter, he became unable to meet with a woman he had finally become able to see, he sent this.
あふさかの木のした露にぬれしよりわが衣手はいつもかわかず
| aFusaka no ko no sitaduyu ni nuresi yori wa ga koromode Fa itumo kawakazu | Meeting Hill’s Trees drip dewdrops and Have soaked me, so My sleeves Never will be dry. |
Lord Kanesuke
Round Forty-Six
みじか夜のふけ行くままに高砂の峰の松かぜ吹くかとぞきく
| mijikayo no fukeyuku mama ni takasago no mine no matsukaze fuku ka to zo kiku | While a brief space of night Breaks, On Takasago Peak, the wind through the pines[i] Does blow, I hear. |
Middle Counsellor Kanesuke
91[ii]
Right
さらでだに露けきさがの野べにきて昔のあとにしをれぬるかな
| sarade dani tsuyukeki saga no nobe ni kite mukashi no ato ni shiorenuru kana | Even had I not to Dew-drenched Saga’s Meadows come, The remnants of bygone days Would leave me drenched! |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Toshitada
92[iii]
[i] Kanesuke is displaying his Chinese education here, as comparing the sound of a plucked zither (koto) to wind blowing through pine trees was a well-known Chinese poetic conceit.
[ii] GSS IV: 167: On hearing Fukayabu playing a zither on a summer night.
[iii] SKKS VIII: 785: On making a pilgrimage to the Hōrin Temple, he went there and composed this, before the grave of Major Counsellor Toshi’ie in Sagano.
On making a pilgrimage to the Hōrin Temple, he went there and composed this, before the grave of Major Counsellor Toshi’ie in Sagano.
さらでだに露けきさがの野べにきて昔のあとにしをれぬるかな
| sarade dani tsuyukeki saga no nobe ni kite mukashi no ato ni shiorenuru kana | Even had I not to Dew-drenched Saga’s Meadows come, The remnants of bygone days Would leave me drenched! |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Toshitada
Round Forty-Five
Left
ありはてぬいのちまつまの程ばかりうきことしげくおもはずもがな
| arihatenu inochi matsu ma no hodo bakari uki koto shigeku omowazu mogana | To reach the very end of Life—awaiting that I spend my time, but simply Upon its flourishing cruelties I wish I did not have to dwell! |
89[i]
Right
後の世をなげくなみだといひなしてしぼりやせましすみ染の袖
| nochi no yo o nageku namida to iinashite shibori ya semashi sumizome no sode | In my life to come brings These grieving tears— Should that be my excuse,as I wring out My ink-dyed sleeves? |
90[ii]
[i] KKS XVII: 965: Composed when he had lost his office.
[ii] SKKS XII: 1102: Composed on the conception of hidden love, when various people were ordered to produce hundred poem sequences by the Lay Priest and Former Regent, when he was Minister of the Right.
Composed on the conception of hidden love, when various people were ordered to produce hundred poem sequences by the Lay Priest and Former Regent, when he was Minister of the Right.
後の世をなげくなみだといひなしてしぼりやせましすみ染の袖
| nochi no yo o nageku namida to iinashite shibori ya semashi sumizome no sode | My life to come brings These grieving tears— Should that be my excuse,as I wring out My ink-dyed sleeves? |
Senior Assistant Governor-General of Dazai, Shige’ie
Composed when he had lost his office.
ありはてぬいのちまつまの程ばかりうきことしげくおもはずもがな
| ariFatenu inoti matu ma no Fodo bakari uki koto sigeku omoFazu mogana | To reach the very end of Life—awaiting that I spend my time, but simply Upon its flourishing cruelties I wish I did not have to dwell! |
Taira no Sadafun
