While she was waiting eagerly for a man who had promised to come, she heard hailstones falling upon the bamboo leaves before her and composed:
竹の葉に霰ふるよはさらさらに獨はぬべき心地こそせね
| take no Fa ni arare Furu yo Fa sarasara ni Fitori Fa nubeki kokoti koso sene |
Among the bamboo leaves The hailstones fall With such a roar that To sleep alone, indeed, Is something I don’t want at all! |
Izumi Shikibu
和泉式部
By His Majesty, Retired Emperor Suzaku (923-952; r. 930-946), on seeing that Senior Grand Empress [Shoshi (950-1000)] was still an infant:
呉竹の我が世は異に成ぬとも音は絶えせずも泣かるべき哉
| kuretake no wa ga yo Fa koto ni narinu to mo ne Fa taezu mo nakarubeki kana |
As bamboo from Cathay, I shall slip the knot; But though I be gone, Eternally sobs I shall weep for you, I feel. |
Emperor Suzaku
A poem composed at a competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress during the Kampyō era (889-898).
ささのはにおく霜よりもひとりぬるわが衣手ぞさえまさりける
| sasa no Fa ni woku simo yori mo Fitori nuru wa ga koromode zo saemasarikeru | On bamboo grass leaves Settles frost, but Sleeping alone, My sleeves Are colder still by far. |
Ki no Tomonori
紀友則