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? |