Topic unknown.
あし引の山郭公けふとてやあやめの草のねにたててなく
asiFiki no yamaFototogisu keFu tote ya ayame no kusa no ne ni tatete naku | Leg wearying, The mountain cuckoo, Knowing today, perhaps, On the sweet-flag Roots does perch and sing. |
A composition by the Engi Emperor [Daigo]
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
'Simply moving and elegant'