Composed for a painting on a folding screen, showing the picking of fresh herbs on a plain where the snow had fallen.
かすが野の雪のむらぎえかきわけて誰がためつめるわかななるらん
kasugano no
yuki no muragie
kakiwakete
ta ga tame tsumeru
wakana naruran | Across Kasuga Plain,
Spotted with snowmelt,
They push their way;
For who might he be garnering
Those fresh herbs? |
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! |
谷深み水かけ草の下露や知られぬ恋の涙なるらむ
tani ni Fukami
midukakegusa no
sitatuyu ya
sirarenu koFi no
namida naruramu |
Deep within the valley,
Are the water-dripped loosestrife’s
Silver dewdrops
Secret love’s
Tears? |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
思ひ草葉末に結ぶ白露のたまたまきてば手にもかからず
omoFigusa
Fazuwe ni musubu
siratuyu no
tamatama kiteba
te ni mo kakarazu |
The undergrowth’s
Leaf tips are tangled
With silver dewdrop
Gems on occasion, but
They touch not my hands… |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
恋草に染かへりたる色なれば思ひそめけむ日をぞ恨むる
koFigusa ni
simikaFeritaru
iro nareba
omoFisomekemu
Fi wo zo uramuru |
The lovely grasses’
Have ever staining
Hues, so
When it seemed I was first deeply dyed with love –
That day I do hate! |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
逢ふことは夏野に茂る恋草の刈りはらへども生ひむせびつつ
aFu koto Fa
natuno ni sigeru
koFigusa no
kariFaraFedomo
oFimusebitutu |
Our meetings, like
The lush summer meadows’
Lovely grasses
Have been reaped away, yet
Their growth chokes me still… |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
若草をただかりそめに見し日より束も逢へぬものをこそ思へ
wakakusa wo
tada karisome ni
misi Fi yori
tukane mo aFenu
mono wo koso omoFe |
The fresh young grass
But briefly
Did I see that day, and ever since
That I did not sheaf it together
Has been the focus of my thoughts… |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
秋返へすさや田に立てる稲草の根ごとにも身を恨みつるかな
aki kaFesu
saya ta ni tateru
inakusa no
ne goto ni mo mi wo
uramituru kana |
Autumn bends back,
Standing rustling in the paddies
The rice-stems –
Every root embedded
With my despite! |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
Love and Horse Hair.
隙もあらばをぐろに立てる青鷺のこまごまとこそ言はまほしけれ
Fima mo araba
woguro ni tateru
awosagi no
komagoma to koso
iFamahosikere |
Were there but space,
As perching on the paddy-ridges
Are the grey herons close
As the mounts ahead, in such detail
Would I tell you of my love. |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
Rarely Visited Love
干る塩のとどみならずは八十島に絶えまがちなる浦みせましや
Firu siFo no
todomi narazu Fa
yasosima ni
taemagatinaru
uramisemasi ya |
Salt drying
Backwaters these are not:
On all the many islands
If only broken into pieces were
The shorelines, as my despair… |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
'Simply moving and elegant'
