On a day when the Priestly Retired Emperor [Uda (867-931; r. 887-897)] was at the Western River, Tsurayuki composed this poem on the topic of ‘cranes standing on a sandbank’ by imperial command.
あしたづのたてる河邊を吹く風によせてかへらぬ浪かとぞ見る
| asitadu no tateru kaFabe wo Fuku kaze ni yosete kaFeranu nami ka to zo miru |
Cranes among the reeds Standing by the water’s edge: The gusting wind has Brought near, and not retrieved These whitecaps, or so it seems. |
Tsurayuki
貫之