ただならじ戸ばかり叩く水鶏ゆゑあけてはいかにくやしからまし
| tada naraji to bakari tataku kuina yue akete wa ika ni kuyashikaramashi | It is not so easy, I think – But briefly knocking at my door was A water rail: Opening to it, how Deep would be my regret … |
Murasaki Shikibu
Category Archives: Personal Collections
Murasaki Shikibu-shū 74
夜もすがら水鶏よりけに鳴く鳴くぞ真木の戸口に叩きわびつる
| yomosugara kuina yori keni naku naku zo maki no toguchi ni tataki wabitsuru | All night long Cries the water rail, but even more Did I weep and weep again At your cedar door I knocked, but found only grief! |
Fujiwara no Michinaga
Alexis Lours, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Akishino gesseishū III: 1304
Winter moonlight at a mountain retreat.
やまおろしのけしきばかりやふゆならむみやこなりせば秋のよの月
| yama’oroshi no keshiki bakari ya fuyu naramu miyako nariseba aki no yo no tsuki | The wind howling down the mountain Simply sets a scene of Seeming winter, but Were I in the capital, An autumn night’s moon, would this be… |
Ise-shū 358
My reply:
君にとし思ひかくれば鶯のはなのくしげもをしまざりけり
| kimi ni to si omoFikakureba uguFisu no hana no kusige mo wosimazarikeri | For my Lady did I fondly think, so The warbler’s Comb of blossom I do not regret at all… |
Ise
Ise-shū 357
When the Crown Prince Lady of the Bedchamber held a box match, and I said I would place some budding scarlet plum in my box, Her Majesty, Empress Dowager stated:
みづのえのかたみとおもへどうぐひすの花のくしげはあけてだにみず
| midu no e no katami to omoFedo uguFisu no Fana no kusige Fa akete dani mizu | By the waters’ edge A keepsake, I thought this was, yet The warbler’s Comb of blossom on Opening, I see not within… |
Sanboku kikashū I: 42
Composed on the conception of Lingering Cold.
衣手のうすきや冬のせきならんわが身はいとどしみこほりつつ
| koromode no usuki ya fuyu no seki naran wa ga mi wa itodo shimikōritsutsu | Do my sleeves, So scanty, winter’s Barrier gate mark? My flesh is still so Pierced with icy chills! |
Masafusa-shū 95
New Year’s Eve.
よしの川ながれて過ぐる年浪の立ゐのかげもくれにけるかな
| yoshino gawa nagarete suguru toshinami no tachi’i no kage mo kurenikeru kana | The River Yoshino Flows on past while The year’s waves Rise and fall Fading into shadow! |
Ōe no Masafusa
Kintō-shū 511
On the sound of a flute under the moon.
月かげにこちくの声ぞ聞ゆなるふりにしいもは待ちやかぬらん
| tsuki kage ni kochiku no koe zo kikoyu naru furinishi imo wa machi ya kanuran | In the moonlight A flute’s notes Do sound— My dear old girl: Does she find it hard to wait, I wonder? |
Shunmusō III: 2000
あしひきの山遠き月を空におきて月影高き末の架け橋
| ashihiki no yama tōki tsuki o sora ni okite tsukikage takaki sue no kakehashi | Leg-wearying, Above the distant mountains, the moon Hangs in the sky; Soaring moonbeams A bridge between the peaks. |
Shōhaku 肖柏 (1443-1527)
Hitomaro-shū 180
あしひきの山下とよみ行く水の時ぞともなく恋ひわたるかも
| ashihiki no yamashita toyomi yuku mizu no toki zo tomokaku koiwataru kamo | Leg-wearying, The mountain’s foot resounds with Rushing waters Endlessly – As flows my love for you! |