My reply.
こきかぎりことはつみいれてなでしこのうへなるそでのいろぞみせまし
koki kagiri koto wa tsumi’irete nadeshiko no ue naru sode no iro zo misemashi There’s a limit to the depth, Picked and tucked within, so Atop the pinks The sleeves’ Passionate hues—that’s what you should show me!
Ise
From the Master of the Right Capital Office, when the pinks were blooming in profusion.
我がそでにうつらばうつれてもやまずつみやいれましなでしこのはな
wa ga sode ni utsuraba utsure te mo yamazu tsumi ya iremashi nadeshiko no hana If, to my sleeves It is to shift, then let it! My hand will not cease To pick and I would tuck within A flowering pink!
Minamoto no Muneyuki
Around the last day of the Fifth Month, when she had been lying awake all night, filled with gloomy thoughts.
限りあればこよひにつきぬさみだれも身をしるあめはいつかをやまん
kagiri areba koyoi ni tsukinu samidare mo mi o shiru ame wa itsuka o yaman All things have an end, so This night’s endless Showers— The rainfall of my misery— O, when might they cease to fall?
Lady Aki, in service to the Empress Ikuhōmon’in 郁芳門院安芸
Attached to some lilac daphne.
花のいろのこきをみすとてこきたるをおろかに人はおもふらんやぞ
Fana no iro no koki o misu tote kokitaru o oroka ni Fito Fa omoFuran ya zo ‘The blossom’s hues’ Depth show me!’ you say, and Deeply—but O, how foolish, would it be For me to care for you?
Lilac Daphne.
一重きるきぬもうきまでいかにひのはなはだしくも照増るらむ
hitoe kiru kinu mo uki made ika ni hi no hanahadashiku mo terimasaruramu A single layer have I donned; My garb so thin, yet Why is it the sun So savagely Seems to shine so bright?
Murata Harumi (1746-1811)| 村田春海
Composed on Mount Tsukuba.
やまたかみふりくるゆきをむめのはなちりかもくるとおもひけるかな
yama takami purikuru yuki wo mume no pana tiri kamo kuru to omopikeru kana Upon the mountain’s heights Falling comes the snow—as Plum blossom Come scattering, perhaps— Did I think!
In a fifty-poem sequence…
たが袖のにほひをかりて梅の花人のとがむる香にはさくら ん
ta ga sode no nioi o karite ume no hana hito no togamuruka ni wa sakura n From whose sleeves Have you borrowed the scent Of plum blossom— Will a lady be called out By its fragrance blooming forth?
Prince Munetaka (1242-1274) 宗尊親王
Poems composed for a folding screen for the Minister of the Right in Jōhei 7 [937]: Women gazing at the scarlet plum blossom they had picked beneath the trees.
雪とのみあやまたれつつ梅花くれなゐにさへかよひけるかな
yuki to nomi aya mataretsutsu mume no hana kurenai ni sae kayoikeru kana For the snow alone, O, have we ever waited, while The plum blossom Simply in scarlet Has scattered back and forth.
Love and Waterfalls
山河の滝ははやくもおもほえず恋の涙ぞおちまさりける
yamakawa no taki wa hayaku mo omohoezu koi no namida zo ochimasarikeru A mountain river’s Waterfall flows swift Wouldn’t you think, but The tears of my love Faster fall by far.
Kinoshita Takafumi
On seeing autumn leaves being scattered about during a shower.
おほぞらに木ずゑや心あはすらんしぐれとともにこのはふりしく
ōzora ni kozue ya kokoro awasuran shigure to tomo ni ko no ha furishiku In the broad skies above Is it the treetops or my heart That seems to be revealed? Mixed in with the showers The leaves are blowing about.
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