折る菊の雫を多み若ゆてふ濡れ衣をこそ老いの身にきれ
woru kiku no
sizuku wo oFomi
wakayu teFu
nureginu wo koso
oi no mi ni kire |
The picked chrysanthemums
Have so many droplets
Returning youth, that
A dampened, pointless, robe
I’ll wear about my aged frame! |
Mibu no Tadamine
壬生忠岑
駿河なる宇津の山辺の現にも夢にも人に逢はぬなりけり
suruga naru
utsu no yamabe no
utsutsu ni mo
yume ni mo hito ni
awanu narikeri |
In Suruga
At Utsu Mountain
In truth and
In my dreams she
Is nowhere to be seen… |
Mibu no Tadamine
壬生忠岑
From a folding screen in the Tenryaku period.
秋風のせきふきこゆるたびごとに聲うちそふるすまのうら浪
aki kaze no
seki fuki koyuru
tabi goto ni
koe uchisoru
suma no uranami |
The Autumn wind
Across the barrier blows, and
Every gust
Carries the sound
Of waves upon the beach at Suma. |
Mibu no Tadamine
壬生忠岑
Topic unknown.
あづまぢのさやのなか山さやかにも見えぬ雲ゐによをやつくさん
azumaji no
saya no nakayama
sayaka ni mo
mienu kumoi ni
yo o ya tsukusan |
On the Eastland roads
Lies Nakayama in Saya;
Not clearly at all
Can I see through the clouds –
I wonder, will I leave the world? |
Mibu no Tadamine
壬生忠岑
In answer:
秋萩はまづさす枝より移ろふを露の分くとは思はざらなむ
aki Fagi Fa
madu sasue yori
uturoFu wo
tuyu no waku to Fa
omoFazaranamu |
The autumn bush clover
First its protruding branches
Turns, so
Dew’s fall
Does nothing, I think! |
Tadamine
忠岑
When no one enquired after him after he was in seclusion having lost his job.
おほあらきの森の草とやなりにけんかりにだに來てとふ人のなき
oFoaraki no
mori no kusa to ya
nariniken
kari ni dani kite
toFu Fito no naki |
As the great Araki
Forest flowers
Am I become?
To come and cut them (even for the sake of it)
No one visits at all. |
Mibu no Tadamine
壬生忠岑
When he had not visited someone whom he had got to know for a long time, he went there, and sent this in from the gate.
住吉の松にたちよる白波のかへる折にや音は泣かるらん
sumiyosi no
matu ni tatiyoru
siranami no
kaFeru wori ni ya
ne Fa nakaruran |
At Sumiyoshi, a pleasant place,
The pines are washed over
By the whitecaps;
With their retreat
Are they left rootless, weeping wails? |
Mibu no Tadamine
壬生忠岑
When poems were commanded by His Majesty, during the Engi period.
秋の野に置く白露を今朝見れば玉やしけるとおどろかれつつ
aki no no ni
woku siratuyu wo
kesa mireba
tama ya sikeru to
odorokaretutu |
On the Autumn fields
Have fallen silver dewdrops;
This morning the sight
Was as scattered jewels,
Before my astonished eyes. |
Tadamine
忠岑
Topic unknown.
夢よりもはかなき物は夏の夜の曉がたの別なりけり
yume yori mo
Fakanaki mono Fa
natu no yo no
akatukigata no
wakare narikeri |
Far more than dreams,
How fleeting, and piteous, is
A summer night’s
Dawn
Parting. |
Mibu no Tadamine
壬生忠岑
Topic unknown.
かくれぬのしたよりおふるねぬなはのねぬなはたてじくるないとひそ
kakurenu no
sita yori oFuru
nenunaFa no
nenu na Fa tatezi
kuru na itoFi so |
In a secret marsh
Below the surface grow
Water lilies:
Let no one hear you won’t sleep with me,
And don’t object when I come calling! |
Tadamine
忠岑
'Simply moving and elegant'