Topic unknown.
年月をいかでわが身におくりけん昨日の人も今日はなき世に
toshi tsuki o
ikade wa ga mi ni
okuriken
kinō no hito mo
kyō wa naki yo ni
The years and months:
How have I
Spent them?
Yesterday, he was here, but
Today is gone – even so is this world.
The Monk Saigyō
西行
Topic unknown.
をろかなる心のひくにまかせてもさてさはいかにつゐのおもひは
oroka naru
kokoro no hiku ni
makasete mo
sate sa wa ika ni
tsui no omoi wa
My fickle
Spirit: if in its strength
I were to place my trust,
Well then! What
At the end, would I feel?
The Monk Saigyō
西行
Topic unknown.
かずならぬ身をも心のもちがほにうかれては又かへりきにけり
kazu naranu
mi o mo kokoro no
mochigao ni
ukarete wa mata
kaeri kinikeri
Worthless
Am I, yet, with a heart
As others have showing in my face
I turn up and
Once again come home.
The Monk Saigyō
西行
When he composed a hundred poem sequence.
これや見しむかしすみけんあとならんよもぎがつゆに月のかゝれる
kore ya mishi
mukashi sumiken
ato naran
yomogi ga tsuyu ni
tsuki no kakareru
Did I see this
Long ago I lived here –
In the ruins
The mugwort, dew-drenched,
And hung about with moonlight.
The Monk Saigyô
西行
Topic unknown.
むかし見し庭のこ松にとしふりて嵐のをとをこずゑにぞきく
mukashi mishi
niwa no komatsu ni
toshi furite
arashi no oto o
kozue ni zo kiku
In times long past I saw
A little pine in the garden,
Now the years have passed, and
The sound of storm-winds
In the treetops is what I hear.
The Monk Saigyō
西行
Topic unknown.
しげきのをいくひとむらにわけなしてさらにむかしをしのびかへさん
shigeki no o
iku hitomura ni
wakenashite
sara ni mukashi o
shinobi kaesan
The wild growth
Into many single patches
I may divide, yet
Still times long past
Will come back to me.
The Monk Saigyō
西行
Topic unknown.
山がつのかたをかゝけてしむる野のさかひにたてる玉のを柳
yamagatsu no
kataoka kakete
shimuru no no
sakai ni tateru
tama no oyanagi
Dwelling in the mountains,
The foothills’ slopes
Are taken up with meadows,
And standing at their edge,
Hung around with jewelled cords, a willow tree.
The Monk Saigyō
西行
Topic unknown.
ふるはたのそばのたつきにゐるはとのともよぶ聲のすごきゆふぐれ
furu hata no
soba no tatsuki ni
iru hato no
tomo yobu koe no
sugoki yûgure
In a fallow field
A tree stands tall,
Alighting there a pigeon
Calls his fellows, his cries
Terrible in the evening.
The Monk Saigyō
西行
Topic unknown.
山ざとは人こさせじとおもはねどとはるゝことぞうとくなりゆく
yamazato wa
hito kosaseji to
omowanedo
towaruru koto zo
toku nari yuku
Dwelling in the mountains,
That no one would come,
I did not think, yet
The visits
Are becoming rare, indeed.
The Monk Saigyō
西行
Topic unknown.
やまざとにうきよいとはんともゝがなくやしくすぎし昔かたらん
yamazato ni
uki yo itowan
tomo mo gana
kuyashiku sugishi
mukashi kataran
In my mountain hut,
To despise this cruel world with me
A friend is what I want;
Of all the dreadful times
Long past, could we tell each other!
The Monk Saigyō
西行
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