Spiders 蜘蛛
かれのこる軒のあやめをたよりにてくり返しひくくものいとすぢ
kare nokoru noki no ayame o tayori nite kurikaeshi hiku kumo no itosuji | On the withered remnants of Sweet-flags on my eaves Shall I rely, and Time and time again draw upon The spider’s thread. |
Kanemasa
Spiders 蜘蛛
かれのこる軒のあやめをたよりにてくり返しひくくものいとすぢ
kare nokoru noki no ayame o tayori nite kurikaeshi hiku kumo no itosuji | On the withered remnants of Sweet-flags on my eaves Shall I rely, and Time and time again draw upon The spider’s thread. |
Kanemasa
My reply:
あやめ草寢ぬ夜の空のほとゝぎすまづ曙の聲を聞かばや
ayamegusa nenu yo no sora no Fototogisu madu akebono no kowe wo kikaba ya |
Sweet flag Roots: long as a sleepless night sky; O, Cuckoo! Dawn’s first Call would I hear! |
By the Major Captain, when the Kōshin Rite fell upon the fifth Day of the Fifth Month.
夜のほどのつまとのみなるあやめをもまだ見ぬほどはいつかとぞ思ふ
yo no Fodo no tuma to nomi naru ayame wo mo mada minu Fodo Fa ituka to zo omoFu |
All night long To the eaves wedded is A sweet-flag, Still unseen, But for how long, on this the fifth, I wonder? |
In reply, the Major Captain:
祝ふなる岩のあやめも今日よりは千代のはじめに引きはじむべき
iFaFu naru iFa no ayame mo keFu yori Fa tiyo no Fazime ni FikiFazimubeki |
All good things, I pray, for This rock-top sweet flag: From this day forth Let a thousand years of fortune Begin to flow. |
When the Imperial Consort from the Koichijō Estate gave birth to her first son, the third night fell upon he fifth day of the Fifth Month.
岩の上のあやめや千代を重ぬらむ今日も五月の五日と思へば
iFa no uFe no ayame ya tiyo wo kasanuramu keFu mo satuki no ituka to omoFeba |
Atop the rocks, The sweet-flag will a thousand years Endure, no doubt; For this day is the Fifth Month’s Fifth day, I’m sure. |
On the fifth day of the month, when I had last met her on the second.
逢はぬまのみぎはに生ふるあやめ草ねのみなかるゝ昨日今日かな
aFanu ma no migiFa ni oFuru ayamegusa ne nomi nakaruru kinoFu keFu kana |
Time is a marsh without you; Sprouting by the water’s edge The sweet flags, Roots washed—in sobs alone Did I pass yesterday, and today, too. |
When the Kōshin rite was celebrated at the Koichijō mansion on the Fifth Day of the Fifth Month.
やどの上に山ほとゝぎすきなくなり今日はあやめの根のみと思ふに
yado no uFe ni yama Fototogisu kinakunari keFu Fa ayame no ne nomi to omoFu |
Above the house A mountain cuckoo Has come to sing; On this day iris Roots, alone, would be there, I thought. |
あやめふくかやが軒端に風過ぎてしどろに落つる村雨の露
ayame fuku kaya ga nokiba ni kaze sugite shidoro ni otsuru murasame no tsuyu |
Sweet-flags thrust within The thatched eaves’ edge, and Below them blows the wind, Dropping in disarray The cloudburst’s dewdrops. |
Composed on ayame (sweet flags) for the Fifth Day of the Fifth Month.
けふかくる袂に根ざせ菖蒲草憂は我身にありと志らずや
keFu kakuru tamoto ni ne zase ayamegusa uki Fa wa ga mi ni ari to sirazu ya |
Today, we hang you up, so In my sleeve take root, O Sweet flags! My body is a thing of clay, Don’t you know? |
The Monk Dōin