Figurasi (Cicada)
そま人は宮木ひくらしあしひきの山の山びこよびとよむなり
somabito Fa
miyaki Fikurasi
asiFiki no
yama no yamabiko
yobitoyomu nari |
The woodcutters
Are felling palace logs all day, it seems,
Leg-wearying
From the mountains echoes
Resound. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Bell Flower (kitikau no Fana)
秋ちかうのはなりにけり白露のおけるくさばも色かはりゆく
aki tikau
no Fa narinikeri
siratuyu no
okeru kusaba mo
iro kaFariyuki |
Autumn is close by;
The field do show it.
The white dew
Fall upon the grass and leave
Has begun to change the colours. |
Tomonori
友則
Composed at a Suzakuin maidenflower contest, with one of the syllables of wominaFesi at the beginning of each line:
をぐら山みねたちならしなくしかのへにけむ秋をしる人ぞなき
wogura yama
mine tatinarasi
naku sika no
Fenikemu aki wo
siru Fito zo naki |
On Mount Ogura’s
Peak, he is wont to stand:
The belling stag
Has passed many an autumn;
The number? No one can tell. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Rose (saubi)
我はけさうひにぞ見つる花の色をあだなる物といふべかりけり
ware Fa kesa
uFi ni zo mituru
Fana no iro wo
ada naru mono to
iFubekarikeri |
I, this morning,
First set eyes upon
The flowers’ hue
Is fickle indeed-
That’s what I must say! |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Kutani (a flower)
ちりぬればのちはあくたになる花を思ひしらずもまどふてふかな
tirunureba
noti Fa akuta ni
naru Fana wo
omoFisirazu mo
madoFu tefu kana |
When they fall
They’ll be just trash
These blossoms:
It knows that not,
That dizzied butterfly. |
Archbishop Henjō
僧正遍照
Damson Blossoms (sumomo no Fana)
今いくか春しなければうぐひすもものはながめて思ふべらなり
ima iku ka
Faru si nakereba
uguFisu mo
mono Fa nagamete
omoFuberanari |
Now a few days
Of Spring is all that remains, so
Even the bush warbler
Stares into space,
Lost in thought, it seems. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Mountain Cherry Blossoms (kaniFazakura)
かづけども浪のなかにはさぐられで風吹くごとにうきしづむたま
kadukedomo
nami no naka ni Fa
sagurarede
kaze Fuku goto ni
ukisidumu tama |
Though I dip
Within the wave
I cannot search them out:
With the gusting of the wind,
The jewels that rise and sink again! |
Tsurayuki
貫之
In reply:
たもとよりはなれて玉をつつまめやこれなむそれとうつせ見むかし
tamoto yori
Fanarete tama wo
tutumame ya
kore namu sore to
utuse mimu kasi |
Apart from our sleeves,
With what, these jewels,
Can we wrap?
Saying, ‘These are they,’
Shift them to me, for I would see them too! |
Mibu no Tadamine
壬生忠岑
Cicada Shell (utusemi)
浪のうつせみればたまぞみだれけるひろはばそでにはかなからむや
nami no utu
se mireba tama zo
midarekeru
FiroFaba sode ni
Fakanakaramu ya |
Waves strike
The shoals-seeing jewels
Scatter,
Were I to gather them within my sleeves
How swiftly would they vanish? |
Ariwara no Shigeharu
'Simply moving and elegant'