The End of Summer
Left
なくこゑはするものからに身はむなしあなおぼつかなうつせみのよや
naku koe wa
suru mono kara ni
mi wa munashi
ana obotsukana
utsusemi no yo ya | Their voices sing
And yet
Their flesh is empty—
O, how strange is
A cicada shell world! |
Tadamine
9
Right (Win)
ほととぎすをちかへりなけうなゐこがうちたれがみのさみだれのこゑ
hototogisu
ochikaeri nake
unaiko ga
uchitaregami no
samidare no koe | A cuckoo
Calls again and again;
A child’s shoulder-brushing
Hair dangling down:
The song of a summer shower. |
Mitsune
10
Left
空蝉の侘びしきものを夏草の露にかかれる身にこそ有りけれ
utsusemi no
wabishiki mono o
natsukusa no
tsuyu ni kakareru
mi ni koso arikere | A cicada’s empty shell
Is so sorrowful;
To a stalk of summer grass,
All draped with dewdrops,
It’s form does cling. |
43
Right
なつの夜の月はほどなく明けながらあしたの間をぞかこちよせける
natsu no yo no
tsuki wa hodonaku
akenagara
ashita no ma o zo
kakochiyosekeru | On a summer night,
The moon lacks time
To brighten, so
It will do it on the morrow—
That is its excuse! |
44
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
Cicadas (蟬)
うつせみのいでがたくても過すかないかでこの世に跡をとどめん
utsusemi no
idegatakute mo
sugusu kana
ikade kono yo ni
ato o todomen | A cicada shell
Is hard to reveal, yet
Endures;
Somehow within this world
A trace will remain… |
Toshiyori
In reply:
蓮葉にうかぶ露こそたのまるれなに空蟬の世をなげくらむ
Fatisuba ni
ukabu tuyu koso
tanomarure
nani utusemi no
yo wo nagekuramu |
Upon the lotus leaf
Rests a dew drop:
Place your trust in that; so
Why, for this cicada shell
World should you grieve? |
'Simply moving and elegant'