Topic unknown.
花のごと世の常ならば過ぐしてし昔は又も帰りきなまし
Fana no goto
yo no tune naraba
sugusitesi
mukasi Fa mata mo
kaFerikinamasi | Were the ever-cycling blossoms
To be a model for this world,
For the long-gone
Past once more to
Return – that’s what I would want. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
春ごとに花の盛りはありなめどあひ見む事はいのちなりけり
Faru gotot ni
Fana no sakari Fa
arinamedo
aFimimu koto Fa
inoti narikeri | In every springtime are there
Blossoms in profusion,
No doubt, and yet
Whether I will see them more
Hangs upon my lifeline. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
春の色のいたりいたらぬ里はあらじさけるさかざる花の見ゆらん
Faru no iro no
itari itaranu
sato Fa arazi
sakeru sakazaru
Fana no miyuran | The hues of spring
Spread on, and fail to reach
No spots at all, so why do
Some bloom, and some bloom not?
These blossoms – or so it seems… |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
うつせみの世にも似たるか花ざくらさくと見しまにかつちりにけり
utusemi no
yo ni mo nitaru ka
Fanazakura
saku to misi ma ni
katu tirinikeri | This cicada-shell
World do you resemble,
O, cherry blossom?
The moment that I see you bloom
Have you already scattered. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
この里に旅寝しぬべし桜花ちりのまがひに家路わすれて
kono sato ni
tabineshinubesi
sakurabana
chiri no magaFi ni
iFedi wasurete | In this hamlet
Must I sleep upon my travels;
In the cherry blossoms’
Scattering distraction
Have I forgot my homeward path… |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
山ざくらわがみにくればはるがすみ峰にもおにもたちかくしつつ
yamazakura
wa ga mi ni kureba
Farugasumi
mine ni mo oni mo
tachikakusitutu | When mountain cherries
Have I come to see,
The haze of spring,
Around the peaks, and foothills, too,
Ever does arise to hide them… |
Anonymous
A poem from a poetry competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress, during the Kanpyō period.
梅が香を袖にうつしてとどめてば春は過ぐとも形見ならまし
mume ga ka wo
sode ni utusite
todometeba
Faru Fa sugutomo
katami naramasi | If only the plums’ scent
Would shift to my sleeves and
Stay there, then
Even when spring is past and gone
A keepsake would it be… |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
梅花立よる許ありしより人のとがむる香にぞしみぬる
ume no Fana
tatiyoru bakari
arisi yori
Fito no togamuru
ka ni zo shiminuru | Among the plum blossom
Did I briefly stand;
Since then
She does reproach me for
The scent that clings about me. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
遠近のたづきもしらぬ山中におぼつかなくも喚子鳥哉
wotikoti no
taduki mo siranu
yamanaka ni
obotuka naku mo
yobukodori kana | All around from near and far
In the trackless
Mountains’ heart
I wonder, is that song
Bird calling me! |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
野辺ちかく家居しせればうぐひすのなかなるこゑは朝な朝なきく
nobe tikaku
iewi sisereba
uguFisu no
nakanaru kowe Fa
asana asana kiku | When out upon the meadows
I have made my home
The warbler’s
Voice, singing,
Is all I hear each morn. |
Anonymous
'Simply moving and elegant'