Composed on travel
しら雲のかかるたびねもならはぬにふかき山ぢに日はくれにけり
| shirakumo no kakaru tabine mo narawanu ni fukaki yamaji ni hi wa kurenikeri | Clouds, so white, Surround me, sleeping on my travels, Unaccustomed to it, On deep mountain trails The sun has set. |
Supernumerary Archbishop Eien[1]
権僧正永縁
[1] This poem was originally composed for Horikawa hyakushu (1372).
Cranes.
さはべより雲ゐにかよふあしたづもうきことあれやねのみなくらん
| sawabe yori kumoi ni kayou ashitazu mo uki koto are ya ne nomi nakuran | From the marsh’s edge Back and forth to the clouds go Cranes from the reeds— Have they some heartbreak, that Makes them simply cry so?[i] |
707
[i] See: Her reply. あしたづのくもゐにかかる心あらば世をへてさはにすまずぞあらまし ashitazu no / kumoi ni kakaru / kokoro araba / yo o hete sawa ni / sumazu zo aramashi ‘If, among the reeds, a crane / Toward the clouds / Had set his heart, then / Passing ages within the marsh, and / Dwelling there he surely would not!’ Princess Isoko (Gosenshū XI: 754)
Sent to the Princess of the Fourth.[i]
葦たづの沢辺に年はへぬれども心は雲のうへにのみこそ
| asitadu no saFabe ni tosi Fa Fenuredomo kokoro Fa kumo no uFe ni nomi koso | Among the reeds, a crane, By the marsh’s edge years Have passed, yet, His heart is for the clouds’ Heights, alone… |
The Minister of the Right
753
[i] Princess Isoko (Kinshi) 勤子 (904-938), the fifth daughter of Emperor Daigo 醍醐 (885-930; r. 897-930) (her sobriquet comes from her rank – shihon 四品 (‘Fourth Order’). She was to marry Fujiwara no Morosuke 藤原師輔 (909-960), who writes to her here, in 930, after a secret affair, becoming the first imperial princess to marry a commoner. She is chiefly remembered today, however, as the patron of Minamoto no Shitagō 源順 (911-983) who ordered him to produce Japan’s first dictionary, Wamyō ruijushō 和名類聚抄 (931-938).
Original
あきかぜはくものうへまでふきのぼれつきのかつらのちりちらずみむ
| akikaze wa kumo no ue made fukinobore tsuki no katsura no chiri chirazu mimu | O, autumn wind Above the clouds Blow high! For the silver trees upon the moon I would see scatter, or scatter not! |
33
Left (Win)
くものうへにかぜはふかせじもみぢばをつきのうちだにちらさでをみむ
| kumo no ue ni kaze wa fukaseji momijiba o tsuki no uchi dani chirasade o mimu | Above the clouds The wind will not blow, I hope! For even the scarlet leaves Beneath the moon Unscattered I would behold… |
34
Right
そらながらあまのかはかぜさむければつきのかつらはとまりしもせじ
| sora nagara ama no kawakaze samukereba tsuki no katsura wa tomarishi mo seji | Within the skies The wind o’er Heaven’s river Is chill, so The silver trees upon the moon Will not have lingered, I think. |
35
I sent this in parting to a court lady who had served me closely, when she said she was going to a distant province.
山とほみ雲ゐにかりのこえていなば我のみひとりねにやなかなん
| yama tōmi kumoi ni kari no koeteinaba ware nomi hitori ne ni ya nakanan | Distant the mountains, where Within the clouds, the geese Pass over—should you, too, then Will I, alone, simply Be left to sob out my cries?[i] |
604
[i] See: 朝霞 蒙山乎 越而去者 吾波将恋奈 至于相日 asagasumi / tanabiku yama o / koete’inaba / are wa koimu na / awamu hi made ni ‘The morning haze / Trailed mountains / Should you pass beyond, then / Will I ever yearn for you / Until the day we meet once more…’ (Man’yōshū XII: 3188)
Sent to his Junior Consort when she was away from the palace.
たまぼこのみちははるかにあらねどもうたてくもゐにまどふころかな
| tamaboko no michi wa haruka ni aranedomo utate kumoi ni madou koro kana | Down a jewelled-spear straight Road’s distance You are not, yet Somehow, among the clouds, extremely Lost am I, these days! |
Former Emperor Suzaku
