Two poems by Yamanoue no Okura, composed on the flowers of the autumn fields.
秋の野に咲きたる花を指折りかき数ふれば七草の花
aki no no ni sakitaru pana wo oyobi ori kakikazopureba nanakusa no pana | In the autumn fields Blooming are the flowers: On my fingers I do count them out, and Seven plants have blooms. |
Yamanoue no Okura
A poem by Prince Yuhara, when he was in Yoshino.
吉野なる菜摘の川の川淀に鴨ぞ鳴くなる山蔭にして
yosino naru natumi no kapa no kapa yodo ni kamo zo nakunaru yama kage ni site | In Yoshino From the River Natsumi’s Deep, still pools The ducks cry In the mountains’ shade. |
Prince Yuhara
When he visited the Naniwa Palace in Kyōun 3 [706]
葦辺行く鴨の羽交ひに霜降りて寒き夕は大和し思ほゆ
asibe yuku kamo no pagapi ni simo purite samuki yupube pa yamato si omopoyu | Huddled in the reeds Upon the ducks’ folded wings Frost falls and In the evening’s cold My thoughts dwell upon Yamato. |
Prince Shiki
A miscellaneous winter poem.
我が袖に霰た走る巻き隠し消たずてあらむ妹が見むため
wa ga sode ni arare tapasiru makikakusi kedazute aramu imo ga mimu tame | Upon my sleeves The hailstones strike; I’ll wrap them and hide them away That they not melt, and Show them to my darling. |
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
A poem composed by the Maiden of Yosami, the wife of Hitomaro, Lord Kakinomoto, when she parted from him.
な思ひと君は言えども逢はむ時いつと知りてか我が恋ひざらむ
na omopi to kimi pa ipedomo apamu toki itu to sirite ka wa ga kopizaramu | ‘Think not of me,’ You say, my Lord, yet When will we meet again? Wondering that, could I live without love? |
The Maiden of Yosami
依羅娘子
Envoy
石見の海打歌の山の木の間より我が振る袖を妹見つらむか
ipami no umi ututa no yama no ko no ma yori wa ga puru sode wo imo mituramu ka | By the sea at Iwami, On Utsuta Mountain From between the trees I wave my sleeves – Will my darling glimpse them, I wonder? |
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
When Her Majesty was paying a visit to Yoshino, Prince Yuge sent this poem to Princess Nukata.
いにしへに恋ふる鳥かも弓絃葉の御井の上より鳴き渡り行く
inisipe ni kopuru tori kamo yudurupa no miwi no upe yori nakiwatariyuku | In bygone days Was this the bird we did love so? That now over Yuzuruha’s Sacred springs Crosses in song… |
Prince Yuge
[One of] two poems sent by Prince Yuhara to a maiden.
目には見て手には取らえぬ月の内の楓のごとき妹をいかにせむ
me ni pa mite te ni pa toraenu tuki no uti no katura no gotoki imo wo ika ni semu | You fill my gaze, yet My hand can never reach you As the moon’s Silver trees O, darling, what am I to do? |
[One of] five poems sent by Yakamochi, Lord Ōtomo, to the Elder Maiden of Sakanoe.
言問はぬ木すらあぢさゐ諸弟らが練りのむらとに詐かれけり
koto topanu ki sura adisawi morotora ga neri no mura to ni azamukarekeri | Mute are Trees, yet even they blossom as hydrangeas do; Many are the men By your honeyed words Deceived, no doubt! |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi
上野阿蘇山つづら野を広み延ひにしものをあぜか絶えせむ
kamituke no aso yama tudura no wo piromi papinisi mono wo aze ka taesemu | In Kamitsuke Upon Aso Mountain the moonseed Covers all the meadows; It stretches so far— How ever can it be cut? |
'Simply moving and elegant'