Composed beholding the bright moon, when he was suffering from illness and considering abdicating the throne.
心にもあらでうき世にながらへば恋しかるべき夜はの月かな
| kokoro ni mo arade ukiyo ni nagaraFeba koFisikarubeki yoFa no tuki kana | My heart Is not in it, but in this sorry world Should I stay on, then Surely will I love Tonight’s midnight moon! |
Former Emperor Sanjō
Composed for the Palace Poetry Match in Eishō 4.
あらしふくみむろの山のもみぢばはたつたの川のにしきなりけり
| arasi Fuku mimuro no yama no momidiba Fa tatuta no kaFa no nisiki narikeri | The storm wind blowing Down Mimuro Mountain makes The scarlet leaves Upon the Tatsuta River A fine brocade. |
Monk Nōin
Composed on behalf of the other lady the morning after the Naka Chancellor, when he was still a Minor Captain, had promised to call on her sister, but had failed to come.
やすらはでねなましものをさ夜ふけてかたぶくまでの月を見しかな
| yasuraFade nenamashi mono o sayo fukete katabuku made no tsuki o mishi kana | Without hesitating I wish I had to bed, but Brief night has broken, As setting, The moon remained within my sight! |
Akazome Emon
Sent on returning home from a woman’s residence.
君がためをしからざりしいのちさへながくもがなとおもひけるかな
| kimi ga tame wosikarazarisi inoti saFe nagaku mogana to omoFikeru kana | For your sake, my love, I would not have regretted Even my life, but O, to live long With you in my passionate heart! |
Minor Captain Fujiwara no Yoshitaka
Sent when he had returned home from a lady’s house on a day when the snow was falling.
あけぬればくるる物とはしりながらなほうらめしきあさぼらけかな
| akenureba kururu mono to Fa sirinagara naFo uramesiki asaborake kana | Dawn has broken, and That dusk will come I know for certain, but Still, I hate The morning light! |
Fujiwara no Michinobu
When a woman told him to throw himself into a pool.
身をすててふかきふちにも入りぬべしそこの心のしらまほしさに
| mi o sutete Fukaki Futi ni mo irinubesi soko no kokoro no siramaFosisa ni | I shall cast off all restraint, and Into a deep pool, indeed, Plunge— For at the bottom your heart’s depths I would come to know… |
Minamoto no Michinari
Composed on the conception of gazing at mountain cherries in the distance, when people were drinking wine and composing poetry at the residence of the Minister of the Centre.
高砂の尾上のさくらさきにけりと山のかすみたたずもあらなん
| takasago no wonoFe no sakura sakinikeri toyama no kasumi tatazu mo aranan | On Takasago’s Heights the cherries Have bloomed; O, I wish the haze around the nearby peaks Would not rise at all! |
Lord Ōe no Masafusa
On seeing fisherfolk burning salt when he was on the road to Kumano, and felt particularly unwell.
旅の空夜半のけぶりとのぼりなばあまのもしほ火たくかとやみん
| tabi no sora yowa no keburi to noborinaba ama no mosiobi taku ka to ya min | Should into my travel’s skies One night as smoke I rise, The fisherfolk seaweed salt fires Kindling—would it appear so, I wonder? |
Former Emperor Kazan
Around the time the Naka Chancellor had begun visiting her, on the morning following a night when he had failed to call, she composed this to say that this night’s dawn had been particularly hard to bear.
ひとりぬる人やしるらん秋の夜をながしとたれか君につげつる
| Fitori nuru Fito ya siruran aki no yo wo nagasi to tareka kimi ni tugeturu | Sleeping alone I know it all too well—that An autumn night is Long to someone You’ve been telling! |
The Kō Handmaid
