omoine no yume no ukihashi todaeshite samuru makura ni kiyuru omokage
Filled with love, I slept, but My floating bridge of dreams Is broken: On waking, from my pillow Your face fades away…[i]
17
[i] See: When he composed a fifty-poem sequence for Cloistered Prince Shukaku. 春のよの夢のうきはしとだえしてみねにわかるゝよこ雲のそら haru no yo no / yume no ukihashi / todaeshite / mine ni wakaruru / yokogumo no sora ‘A Spring night’s / Floating bridge of dreams / Is broken – / Split by the peaks, / The long clouds trail across the sky.’ Fujiwara no Sada’ie (Shinkokinshū I: 38)
miru hodo zo shibashi nagusamu nagekitsutsu nenu yo no sora no ariake no tsuki
While gazing on it Briefly am I consoled: Ever grieving After a sleepless night in the sky Hangs the dawntime moon.[i]
15
[i] An allusive variation on: 見るほどぞしばしなぐさむめぐりあはん月の都は遥かなれども miru hodo zo/ shibashi nagusamu / meguri awan / tsuki no miyako wa / harukanaredomo‘While gazing on it / Briefly am I consoled: / A meeting will come around once more, / Though the capital as the moon / Is distant…’ Hikaru Genji (Genji monogatari204)
natsugoromo usuku ya hito no narinuran utsusemi no oto ni nururu sode kana
Summer garb Scanty has he Become, perhaps? An abandoned cicada shell’s sound is Drenched sleeves![i]
14
[i] See: 空蝉の羽におく露の木がくれてしのびしのびにぬるる袖かな utsusemi no / ha ni oku tsuyu no / kogakurete / shinobishinobi ni / nururu sode kana ‘Upon an abandoned cicada shell’s / Wings fall dewdrops / Hidden ‘mongst the trees / Secretly, so secretly, / Drenched are my sleeves!’ Utsusemi (Genji monogatari 25)
shirazariki musubanu mizu ni kage mitemo sode ni shizuku no kakaru mono to wa
I did not know: Even though in intangible waters I glimpsed your face, Upon my sleeves, droplets Still would cling…[i]
13
[i] An allusive variation on: Composed on the conception of love, when hundred poem sequences were presented during the reign of former Emperor Horikawa. おもひあまり人にとはばやみなせ川むすばぬ水に袖はぬるやと omoi’amari / hito ni towaba ya / minasegawa / musubanu mizu ni / sode wa nuru ya to ‘Love consumes me and so / I would ask her: / Do the ever dry Minase River’s / Intangible waters / Yet soak your sleeves?’ Major Counsellor Kinzane (Senzaishū XII: 704)
matsushima ya ojima ga iso ni yoru nami no tsuki no kōri ni chidori nakunari
In Matsushima Upon Ojima’s rocky shore Break waves, while from The moon’s ice The plovers are a’calling.[i]
12
[i] See: I went to the province of Sanuki and arrived at harbour called Minotsu. The moon was bright and bamboo racks for growing seaweed filled the bay. Gazing across, into the distance, I saw seabirds arriving and soaring above them. しきわたす月のこほりをうたがひてひびのてまはるあぢのむらとり shikiwatasu / tsuki no kōri o / utagaite / hibi no te mawaru / aji no muradori ‘Spread out all o’er, / The moon for ice / Mistaking / Above the bamboo racks a’circling / Is a flock of teal…’ Saigyō (Sankashū 1404); and: Waterbirds beneath the moon (poetry match) すはのうみの月のこほりにゐるかもはさえぬをりにやおもひとくらん suwa no umi no / tsuki no kōri ni / iru kamo wa / saenu ori ni ya / omoitokuran ‘At the Suwa Sea / Upon the moon’s ice / Rest ducks: / That ’tis not chill at all / I wonder, will they work it out?’ (Hirokoto-shū 66)
tsuki miba to tanomeshi aki no yomosugara mata urameshiku utsu koromo kana
‘When we see the moon…’ We promised, but in autumn, All night long, Still, despairingly Am I fulling clothes![i]
11
[i] See: Topic unknown. 月見ばと契をきてしふるさとの人もやこよひ袖ぬらすらん tsuki miba to / chigiri okiteshi / furusato no / hito mo ya koyoi / sode nurasuran ‘“When we see the moon…” / We made our vow; / Left at home / Does she, too, on this night / Have soaking sleeves, I wonder?’ Dharma Master Saigyō (Shinkokinshū X: 938); and: 月見ばとたのめかおきし人はこであさぢが露にまつむしぞなく tsuki miba to / tanome’okishi / hito wa kode / asaji ga tsuyu ni / matsumushi zo naku ‘“When we see the moon…” / Did he promise, before, but / That man has failed to come, and / From the dewy cogon grass / The pine crickets cry!’ Lord Ietaka (Sengohyakuban uta’awase 1428)
kaze fukeba shino ni midaruru karukaya mo yū wa wakite tsuyu koborekeri
When the wind does blow Most tangled are The scrubby grasses, At eventide, particularly, Do they drip with dew.[i]
10
[i] See: 荻の葉に露ふきむすぶ秋風もゆふべぞわきて身にはしみける ogi no ha ni/ tsuyu fukimusubu / akikaze mo / yūbe zo wakitem / mi ni wa shimikeru‘To the blades of cogon grass / Carrying drenching dewdrops / The autumn breeze / At eventide, particularly, / Pierces my heart.’ Kaoru (Genji monogatari 761); and: Composed as a poem on stags. さをしかのつまよぶこゑもいかなれや夕はわきてかなしかるらん saoshika no / tsuma yobu koe mo / ika nare ya / yū wa wakite / kanashikaruran ‘The stag, / A’crying for his mate: his bell / Why is it that / Particularly at eventide / It should be so sad?’ Master of the Right Capital Office Naganori (Senzaishū V: 317)
mugura hau yado to wa wakazu aki wa kite kokorozukushi no tsuki zo morikuru
From a mugwort tangled House I am no different: Autumn has come and, Heart draining, The moon comes dripping through.[i]
8
[i] An allusive variation on: Topic unknown. このまよりもりくる月の影見れば心づくしの秋はきにけり ko no ma yori / morikuru tsuki no / kage mireba / kokorozukushi no / aki wa kinikeri ‘Between the trees / Drips moon / Light, seeing it I know / Heart draining / Autumn, has come at last.’ Anonymous (Kokinshū IV: 184)
