Topic unknown.
君がよのとしのかずをばしろたへのはまのまさごとたれかしきけん
kimi ga yo no
toshi no kazu o ba
shirotae no
hama no masago to
tare ka shikiken |
My Lord’s reign
Shall for its sum of years
Mulberry cloth white
Sand grains upon the beach have;
Who was it spread them there, I wonder? |
Tsurayuki
貫之
From the Tsukinami folding screen of the Engi Period (901- 923).
おほぞらをわれもながめてひこぼしのつまゝつよさへひとりかもねん
ōzora o
ware mo nagamete
hikoboshi no
tsuma matsu yo sae
hitori ka mo nen |
On the heavens
I, too, turn my gaze,
As does the Herd Boy:
Until the night he awaits his bride
Must I sleep alone? |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
On a folding screen of the moon, in the Engi period (901-923).
みそぎする河のせみればからころも日もゆふぐれに浪ぞたちける
misogi suru
kawa no semi nareba
karakoromo
hi mo yūgure ni
nami zo tachikeru |
The purifying
River rapids: all in
Cathay robes
Sashes wound around, at evening time
The waves are rising. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Composed on wisteria among the pine trees.
みどりなる松にかゝれるふぢなれどをのがころとぞ花はさきける
midori naru
matsu ni kakareru
fuji naredo
ono ga koro to zo
hana wa sakikeru |
Evergreen are
The pines, all bound by
Wisteria, yet
Only in their season
Will their blossoms bloom. |
Tsurayuki
紀貫之
On a folding screen.
くれぬとはおもふものからふぢなみのさけるやどには春ぞひさしき
kurenu to wa
omouru mono kara
fujinami no
sakeru yado ni wa
haru zo hisashiki |
It is past and gone
I feel yet, where
Wisteria waves
Bloom in this house
Spring will last forever. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
吉野川きしの山吹ふく風にそこのかげさへうつろひにけり
yosinogaFa
kisi no yamabuki
Fuku kaze ni
soko no kage saFe
uturoFinikeri |
By the river Yoshino
The globeflowers on the bank,
With the gusting wind
Make the shadows on the river bed
Pale away. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Topic unknown.
百羽がき羽かく鴫も我がごとく朝わびしき數はまさらじ
momo Fagaki
Fane kaku sigi mo
wa ga gotoku
asita wabisiki
kazu Fa masarazi |
The hundred wing-beat
Beating wings of the snipe:
My
Sadness on this morrow
Outnumbers them by far. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
From a folding screen with a picture of the moon, in the Engi period (901-23).
たなばたに脱ぎてかしつる唐衣いとゞ涙に袖や濡るらん
tanabata ni
nugite kasituru
kara koromo
itodo namida ni
sode ya nururan |
For the Weaver Maid
I’ll doff and proffer her
My Chinese robe;
What great flow of tears
Will wet its sleeves, I wonder. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
From a folding screen in the Engi period.
山里に知る人も哉郭公鳴きぬと聞かば告げに來るがに
yamazato ni
siru Fito mo gana
Fototogisu
nakinu to kikaba
tuge ni kuru ga ni |
Oh, that in the mountains
Lived someone that I knew!
The cuckoo
Would he hear call
And then come and tell me! |
Tsurayuki
貫之
With the same conception:
葦引の山下水はゆきかよひ琴の音にさへながるべら也
asiFiki no
yamasita midu Fa
yukikayoFi
koto no ne ni saFe
nagaruberanari |
Leg-wearying
Mountain waters beneath the trees
Do run;
With the zither’s tune
Do they seem to flow, indeed. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
'Simply moving and elegant'