When Spring Arrives in the Old Year 旧年立春

あらたまの　としに二たび　はるたてば　おいのかずのみ　そはりつつ　 なきむかしこそ　こひしけれ　あはれわが君　まししとき　たつのみかほに　ちかづきて　てる日のひかり　身をてらし　うれしきことを　あさゆふの　ま袖のうちに　つつみても　春はやなぎの　まゆひらけ　はなのたもとも　ほころびて　よろこびのみぞ　しげりける　なつのはじめの　しらがさね　たちきるままに　ほととぎす　はなたち花に　き鳴きては　さ月の玉を　ときちらし　秋のはつかぜ　ときをつげ　星合の空を　みしほどに　みねの月かげ　木がくれて　嵐をそらに　くもをいたみ　谷のゆふぎり　むせびあひて　われらが中は　しぐれつつ　袖のつららも　むすぼほれ　いやかたまれる　庭なれや　かしらのしもも　はらひあへず　いかに年月　つもるらん　むかしのくすり　けがさねど　さすがにいのち　しなれねば　ただ大ぞらを　あふぎつつ　身を知る雨に　おぼほれて　くち木の山の　やま人に　成行く身をも　いかにせむ　けなばけなくて　あは雪の　あるかなきかの　世にもふるかな

aratama no toshi ni futatabi haru tateba oi no kazu nomi sowaritsutsu naki mukashi koso koishikere aware wa ga kimi mashishi toki tatsu no mikao ni chikazukite teru hi no hikari mi o terashi ureshiki koto o asa yū no masode no uchi tsutsumite mo haru wa yanagi no mayu hirake hana no tamoto mo hokorobite yorokobi nomi zo shigerikeru natsu no hajime no shiragasane tachikiru mama ni hototogisu hanatachibana ni kinakite wa satsuki no tama o tokichirashi　 aki no hatsukaze toki o tsuge hoshiai no sora o mishi hodo ni mine no tsukikage kogakurete arashi o sora ni kumo o itami tani no yūgiri musebiaite warera ga naka wa shiguretsutsu sode no tsurara mo musubōre iya katamareru niwa nare ya kashira no shimo mo harai’aezu ikan ni toshitsuki tsumoruran mukashi no kusuri kegasanedo sasuga ni inochi shinareneba tada ōzora o ōgitsutsu mi o shiru ame ni obōrete kuchiki no yama no yamabito ni nariyuku mi o mo ika ni semu kenaba kenakute awayuki no aru ka naki ka no yo ni mo furu kana

When in the new-jewelled Year twice Spring does fall, The weight of age alone Ever piling on Makes those long-gone days So dear. O, when my Lord, Was among us, With his fair face alike a dragon’s, Drawing near, The sun’s bright light Shining from his flesh, and Pleasing things, Both morn and eve, Within fine sleeves Enveloped; In spring, the willows Open up their buds, The blossoms’ sleeves Unravelling, and Pleasure alone Grows wild at The start of summer, when Layered robes of white Are being cut, while The warblers To the orange blossom Do come to sing and The scented baubles of the Fifth Month Undo and scatter; The first gust of autumn Announces the turning season, and While the stars’ meeting in the skies Does fill our gaze, Moonlight above the peaks Hides among the trees, and A sky of storms Scuds the clouds around, while The valleys with evening mists Are choked, and Our friendship, Grows lushly, but Our sleeves with ice Grow stiff – No, a frozen Garden have they become? The frost upon my locks I cannot sweep away! How can the years and months Mount up so? Long ago, my medicines I never did pollute, yet Truly, my life Has not ended yet, so Simply to the skies Will I ever uplift my face, while The rain, which knows my flesh so well, Does drown me, and On a mountain among the rotting trees A dweller Will I become, O, what am I to do! Should it vanish, or should it not, A frothy snowflake, Here, or not, is This world where age drags on!

Nakazane