Springs.
いかなればななくりの湯のわくがごといづる泉の涼しかるらむ
ika nareba
nanakuri no yu no
waku ga goto
izuru izumi no
suzushikaruramu | For some reason
As Nanakuri hot spring
Gushes forth
This spouting spring
Seems cool. |
Mototoshi
Fireflies
五月雨に草のいほりはくづれども蛍と成るぞうれしかりける
samidare ni
kusa no iori wa
kuzuredomo
hotaru to naru zo
ureshikarikeru | In the early summer rain
Grassy lodgings
Wither away, yet
That they turn to fireflies
Brings me joy. |
Ōe no Masafusa
The winter moon.
木の葉なき梢のかぜは音さびて村雲たかき有明のかげ
ko no ha naki
kozue no kaze wa
oto sabite
muragumo takaki
ariake no kage | In the leafless
Treetops the wind’s
Sound is lonely, indeed, while
Above the high, crowding clouds is
The light at dawn. |
しぐれの雨木の葉ばかりを染めくればかづきし袖は色もかはらず
shigure no ame
ko no ha bakari o
somekureba
kazukishi sode wa
iro mo kawarazu | Showers of rain
Simply, the trees’ leaves
Do dye, so
My drenched sleeves
Hue remains unchanged. |
Ryūgen
木の葉のみちるかとおもひし時雨には涙もあへぬ物にぞ有りける
ko no ha nomi
chiru ka to omoishi
shigure ni wa
namida mo aenu
mono ni zo arikeru | ‘Do the trees’ leaves simply
Fall?’ I wondered;
The showers
Fail to match my tears
At the thought. |
Toshiyori
Icicles
山ざとは谷の下水つららゐていはうつ浪の音だにもせず
yamazato wa
tani no shitamizu
tsurara ite
iwa utsu nami no
oto dani mo sezu | At a mountain retreat
The waters in the valley below
Have turned to icicles, and
Of waves striking the rocks
There is no sound, at all. |
Morotoki
Icicles
つららゐてまもる岩まの関なればよをへてかたく成りまさるかな
tsurara ite
mamoru iwama no
seki nareba
yo o hete kataku
narimasaru kana | Icicles hang
Warding the space between the rocks, and
Forming a barrier, so
As the night goes by their hardness
Grows even greater! |
Toshiyori
Icicles
浪かくる岩まひまなくたるひして氷とぢたる山川の水
nami kakuru
iwama himanaku
taruhishite
kōri tojitaru
yamakawa no mizu | Waves hang from
Every single space between the rocks
In icicles—
Sealed in ice is
The water of this mountain stream. |
Akisue
こと玉のおぼつかなさにをかみすとこずゑすゑても年をこすかな
kotodama no
obotsukanasa ni
okamisu to
kozue suete mo
toshi o kosu kana | The mystery of words
Leaves me uncertain;
Viewing the land from yonder hilltop,
Even the firmly planted treetops,
Pass through the year! |
Minamoto no Toshiyori (Shunrai)
なに事を待つとはなしに明けくれてことしもけふになりにけるかな
nanigoto o
matsu to wa nashi ni
akekurete
kotoshi mo kyō ni
narinikeru kana | What is there
To wait for? Nothing!
Dawn, then dusk and
The new year, too, today
Has come! |
Minamoto no Kunizane
源国信
'Simply moving and elegant'
