皆人の老いを忘るといふ菊は百年をやる花にそありける
mina Fito no
oi wo wasuru to
iFu kiku Fa
momotose wo yaru
Fana ni zo arikeru |
Everyone,
Their age will forget, they
Say: for chrysanthemums
A hundred years gift
Have in their blooms! |
菊の花露と置きゐていざ折らむ濡れなば袖の香こそ匂はめ
kiku no Fana
tuyu to okiwite
iza oramu
nurenaba sode no
ka koso niFoFame |
For the chrysanthemum blooms’
Dewfall have I lain awake;
Now, let’s pick them!
For if I should damp my sleeves
Their scent would linger there! |
濡れ衣と人にいはすな菊の花齢延ぶとぞ我そぼちつる
nureginu to
Fito ni iFasu na
kiku no Fana
yoFaFi nobu to zo
ware sobotituru |
That you have no effect –
Give folk no cause to say it,
O chrysanthemum blooms!
Saying you’ll prolong my years
I am drenched right through! |
百年を人に留むる玉なればあだにやは見る菊の上の露
momotose wo
Fito ni todomuru
tama nareba
ada ni ya Fa miru
kiku no uFe no tuyu |
A century
For folk is halted
By these gems, so
Can I look lightly on
Dewdrops upon chrysanthemums? |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
祈りつつなほ九月の菊の花いづれの秋か植て見ざらむ
inoritutu
naFo nagatuki no
kiku no Fana
idure no aki ka
uwete mizaramu |
As we pray,
The Ninth Month’s
Chrysanthemum blooms:
Will there ever be an autumn
When they go unplanted? |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
限りなく君が齢を延へつつ名だたる宿の露とならなむ
kagirinaku
kimi ga yoFaFi wo
nobaFetutu
nadataru yado no
tuyu to naruramu |
Limitless
My Lord, are the years
That stretch before you;
In such an illustrious house
A dewdrop is what I would be. |
Ise
伊勢
九月の九日ごとに摘む菊の花もかひなく老いにけるかな
nagatuki no
kokonoka goto ni
tumu kiku no
Fana mo kaFinaku
oinikeru kana |
On every Ninth Month’s
Ninth day,
The plucked chrysanthemum
Blooms, too, pointlessly
Do age! |
Hōō
ほうわう
九月の九日ごとに百敷の八十氏人の若ゆてふ菊
nagatuki no
kokonuka goto ni
momosiki no
yaso’udibito no
wakayu teFu kiku |
On every Ninth Month’s
Ninth day,
Hundredfold,
The multitudes of palace folk
Regain their youth with chrysanthemums! |
秋霧は立たずもあらなむ佐保山の柞の紅葉よそながら見む
akigiri Fa
tatazu mo aranamu
saFoyama no
FaFaso no momidi
yoso nagara mimu |
The autumn mists
Seem not to arise
On Saho Mountain
The oaks’ yellow leaves
In the distance I do see! |
山城の岩田の杜の柞原見つつや君が一人来ゆらむ
yamasiro no
iFata no mori no
FaFasoFara
mitutu ya kimi ga
Fitori koyuramu |
In Yamashiro,
At the sacred grove of Iwata,
Where the oak trees
Fill your sight; my Lord,
Have you come alone? |
'Simply moving and elegant'