おもふよりみしよりむねにたく恋をけふうちつけにもゆるとやしる
omou yori
mishi yori mune ni
taku koi o
kyō uchitsuke ni
moyuru to ya shiru | Since I have yearned,
Since I have seen him, within my breast
Kindled fires of love
Today, suddenly,
Have burst into flame—I wonder if he knows? |
Princess Shokushi
As a love poem
人しれぬ心のうちのかねごとをむなしくなさぬ行末もがな
hito shirenu
kokoro no uchi ni
kanegoto o
munashiku nasanu
yukusue mogana | Within my secret hidden
Heart is
My promise:
No fleeting
Future for us let there be! |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Nagakata
Within a hundred poem sequence
津のくにのうらのはつしまはつかにも見なくに人の恋しきやなぞ
tsu no kuni no
ura no hatsushima
hatsuka ni mo
minaku ni hito no
koishiki ya na zo | In the land of Tsu lies
Ura no Hatsushima—
Faintly
Only did I see her, yet
How deep is my love! |
Imperial Prince Masanari
When there was something on his mind, he went to Inari Shrine and composed this.
人しれぬこころただすの神ならばおもふ心をそらにしらなむ
hito shirenu
kokoro tadasu no
kami naraba
omou kokoro o
sora ni shiranamu | Able my secret unknown
Heart to reveal—
Were you such a god, then
Its yearning
Would echo through the skies… |
Consultant Takamura
Topic unknown
そのことといはぬ涙のわびしきはただにたもとのぬるるなりけり
sono koto to
iwanu namida no
wabishiki wa
tada ni tamoto no
nururu narikeri | Of that
I’ll not speak—tears
Of lonely sadness
Simply have my sleeves
Left drenched. |
Tsurayuki
Sent to a man’s residence.
たよりある風もや吹くとまつしまによせて久しきあまのはし舟
tayori aru
kaze mo ya fuku to
matsushima ni
yosete hisashiki
ama no hashibune | Faithfully, will your letter
Be carried by the wind, I wonder?
To Matsushima, where I pine,
At long last, drawing near is
A fisher’s dinghy… |
Sei Shōnagon
When the Ise Virgin Junior Consort had yet to leave, he attached this to some cherry blossom and sent it to her.
吹く風の音にききつつさくら花めには見えずも過ぐる春かな
fuku kaze no
oto ni kikitsutsu
sakurabana
me ni wa miezu mo
suguru haru kana | In the gusting wind’s
Whispers will I ever hear
My cherry blossom, though
My eyes behold her not
As spring passes by… |
Composed by the Tenryaku Emperor
On the same conception, when the Lay Priest and Former Chancellor had ten poem sequences composed at his residence.
いまよりの涙のはてよいかならん恋ひそむるだに袖はぬれけり
ima yori no
namida no hateyo
ika naran
koisomuru dani
sode wa nurekeri | From this moment
Cease, my tears!
What has occurred?
Why, love’s first tint is all
That wets my sleeves. |
Former Major Counsellor Tame’uji
On the conception of the beginning of love.
わが心かからばいかがありへんと昨日けふにてしられぬるかな
wa ga kokoro
kakaraba ikaga
arihen to
kinō kyō nite
shirarenuru kana | If my heart’s
Focus will
Endure you ask, then
Yesterday, and again today,
Surely have you known it! |
Major Counsellor Sane’ie
Topic unknown.
おもへどもはかなき物は吹く風の音にもきかぬ恋にぞありける
omoedomo
hakanaki mono wa
fuku kaze no
oto ni mo kikanu
koi ni zo arikeru | I yearn, yet
Am forlorn:
The gusting wind
Breathes not a sound of
My love. |
Ki no Tomonori
'Simply moving and elegant'
