Asked to Mitsune and Tadamine.
白露は上より置くをいかなれば萩の下葉のまづもみづらん
siratuyu Fa
uFe yori woku wo
ika nareba
Fagi no simoba no
madu momiduran |
The silver dewdrops
Fall from above,
So why
Are the bush clover’s under-leaves
The first to take on Autumn hues? |
Consultant [Fujiwara no] Korehira (876-938)
His reply:
秋萩を色どる風は吹ぬとも心はかれじ草葉ならねば
aki Fagi wo
irodoru kaze Fa
Fukinu tomo
kokoro Fa karezi
kusaba naraneba |
To the Autumn bush clover
A wind bringing scarlet hues
May blow, yet,
My heart is not a distant, withered
Blade of grass. |
Ariwara no Narihira (825-880)
有原業平
Sent to him from a woman’s house around the Seventh Month:
秋萩を色どる風の吹ぬれば人の心もうたがはれけり
aki Fagi wo
irodoru kaze no
Fukinureba
Fito no kokoro mo
utagaFarekeri |
To the Autumn bush clover
The wind brings scarlet hues;
When it blows
A man’s heart
May give one cause to doubt. |
Anonymous.
Topic unknown.
萩が花ちるらむをののつゆしもにぬれてをゆかむさ夜はふくとも
Fagi ga Fana
tiruramu wono no
tuyuzimo ni
nurete wo yukan
sa yo Fa Fuku tomo |
Bush clover blossoms
Fall in the fields of
Frosted dew-
Soaks me as I go
Though it be the depths of night. |
Anonymous.
Topic unknown.
をりて見ばおちぞしぬべき秋はぎの枝もとををにおけるしらつゆ
oritemiba
oti zo sinubeki
aki hagi no
eda mo tawawani
wokeru siratuyu |
Were I to pluck one,
‘Twould fall and smash:
Autumn bush clover’s
Branches bent
With fallen white dewdrops. |
Anonymous.
Topic unknown.
萩の露玉にぬかむととればけぬよし見む人は枝ながら見よ
Fagi no tuyu
tama ni nukan to
toreba kenu
yosi min Fito Fa
eda nagara miyo |
Dew upon the bush clover:
Little jewels to thread,
Vanished at a touch;
So, those who would see them
Look upon the branches. |
Anonymous.
According to some, this poem is by the Nara Emperor.
Topic unknown.
なきわたるかりの涙やおちつらむ物思ふやどの萩のうへのつゆ
nakiwataru
kari no namida ya
otituran
mono’omoFu yado no
Fagi no uFe no tuyu |
Calling across
Did the geese let tears
Fall?
My dwelling, lost in thought,
Has dew upon the bush clover. |
Anonymous.
Topic unknown.
あきはぎのしたば色づく今よりやひとりある人のいねがてにする
aki Fagi no
sitaba iroduku
ima yori ya
Fitori aru Fito no
inegatenisuru |
The Autumn bush clover’s
Under-leaves are colouring
From this point on,
For one all alone
Will sleep be harder to find? |
Anonymous.
Composed while talking to someone whom he had known once long ago, met in an autumn field.
秋はぎのふるえにさける花見れば本の心はわすれざりけり
aki Fagi no
Furueni sakeru
Fana mireba
moto no kokoro Fa
wasurezarikeri |
Bush clover in Autumn:
A old branch putting forth
Flowers. At the sight
All the old feelings
Are impossible to forget. |
Mitsune
躬恒
Topic unknown.
あき萩も色づきぬればきりぎりすわがねぬごとやよるはかなしき
akiFagi mo
irodukinureba
kirigirisu
wa ga nenu goto ya
yoru wa kanasiki |
Even the bush clover
Has turned brown, so now,
Cricket,
Do you, as I, sleepless
In sadness spend your nights? |
Anonymous.
'Simply moving and elegant'