Topic unknown.
白玉かなにぞと人のとひし時つゆとこたへてけなまし物を
shiratama ka
nani zo to hito no
toishi toki
tsuyu to kotaete
kenamashi mono o
‘Those silvered droplets,
What are they?’ she
Asked, and
‘ They are dew,’ I did reply;
I would that I could fade, as do they…
Ariwara no Narihira
在原業平
When he had been talking with her for a long time and she was simply being cold to him:
たのめつゝ逢はで年經る僞りに懲りぬ心を人は知らなん
tanometutu
aFade tosi Furu
ituFari ni
korinu kokoro wo
Fito Fa siranan
I have expected it
But still we have not met-needing time
Is your excuse;
My foolish feelings are unchanged –
How I wish you knew it!
Narihira
業平
Topic unknown.
伊勢の海に遊海人ともなりにしか浪かきわけて見るめかづかむ
ise no umi ni
asobu ama to mo
narinisika
nami kakiwakete
mirume kadukamu
In the sea at Ise
A frolicking fisherman is what
I would become, for then
I’d plunge between the waves
To harvest algae-and a glimpse of you.
Ariwara no Narihira
在原業平
Composed at a time when the Nijō Empress was still known as the Mother of the Crown Prince, on the topic of a picture of autumn leaves flowing along the Tatsuta River, drawn on a folding screen.
ちはやぶる神世もきかず龍田河唐紅に水くくるとは
tiFayaburu
kamiyo mo kikazu
tatutagaFa
karakurenai ni
midu kukuru to Fa
In even the mighty
Gods’ own age there’s no word of it:
The River Tatsuta,
With deep scarlet
Dyed throughout the waters.
Ariwara no Narihira
在原業平
A poem tied to a chrysanthemum before it was planted in someone’s garden.
うゑしうゑば秋なき時やさかざらむ花こそちらめねさへかれめや
uwe si uweba
aki naki toki ya
sakazaramu
Fana koso tirame
ne saFe kareme ya
If well planted,
And Autumn came not
Would it still bloom-of course, it would!
And the flowers scatter
Were it to wither to the root?
Ariwara no Narihira
在原業平
On a day at the end of the Third Month when it was raining, he plucked a spray of wisteria blossom and sent it to someone.
ぬれつつぞしひてをりつる年の内に春はいくかもあらじと思へば
nuretutu zo
siFite worituru
tosi no uti ni
Faru Fa ikukamo
arazi to omoFeba
Soaked through, and
Heedless of it, I plucked this:
For this year
Spring, is all but
Gone: or so I felt.
Ariwara no Narihira
在原業平
His reply.
けふこずはあすは雪とぞふりなまし消えずは有りとも花とみましや
keFu kozu Fa
asu Fa yuki to zo
Furinamasi
kiezu Fa ari tomo
Fana to mimasi ya
Had I not come today,
Tomorrow, in a blizzard
They might be falling.
Not to melt away, but,
Would they still seem the flowers?
Ariwara no Narihira
在原業平
Composed at the Nagisa Palace when he saw the cherries in bloom.
世中にたえてさくらのなかりせば春の心はのどけからまし
yo no naka ni
taete sakura no
nakariseba
Faru no kokoro Fa
nodokekaramasi
If, in this world of ours
All the cherry blossom
Disappeared
The heart of spring
Might find peace.
Ariwara no Narihira
在原業平
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'Simply moving and elegant'