When he held a poetry match at his house.
雲ゐより照りやまさると水清み浦にてもみん秋のよの月
kumoi yori
teri ya masaru to
mizu kiyomi
ura nite mo min
aki no yo no tsuki | From the clouds
Does it shine most bright?
In the clear waters
By the shore I see
The moon this autumn night. |
Taira no Sadafun
Among the poems he presented to the Hiyoshi Shrine.
みるままにかねのねとほくなりにけり雲もかさなる峰の古寺
miru mama ni
kane no ne tōku
narinikeri
kumo mo kazanaru
mine no furutera | As I gaze upon it
The bell’s toll distant
Does become;
Clouds lie upon
The ancient temple on the mountain’s peak. |
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Masayo
On the Seventh Night, when someone’s child had been born.
雲ゐにもいまはまつらむあしべなる声ふりたつるつるのひな鳥
kumoi ni mo
ima wa matsuramu
ashibenaru
koe furitatsuru
tsuru no hinadori | Within the clouds, too,
Now, they are surely celebrating
Among the reed-beds
The song arises of
A crane’s chick! |
Fujiwara no Motozane
A poem composed by Prince Ōtsu, weeping, at Iware Pond, when he was due to die.
百傳 磐余池尓 鳴鴨乎 今日耳見哉 雲隠去牟
百伝ふ磐余の池に鳴く鴨を今日のみ見てや雲隠りなむ
momo tutapu
ipare no ike ni
naku kamo wo
kepu nomi mite ya
kumogakurinamu | A hundred tales
Told at Iware Pond
By the crying ducks
Do I see, today, at the last
As I vanish beyond the clouds? |
In reply to Her Majesty.
雲のうへもくらしかねける春の日をところがらともながめつるかな
kumo no uFe mo
kurasikanekeru
Faru no Fi wo
tokorogara tomo
nagameturu kana | Above the clouds
There can be no darkness
With the springtime sun—
How fitting for this place that
Long have I gazed upon it! |
Sei Shōnagon
At the new palace, on gazing on the tracks across the plains.
ますらをがあさふむのぢをみわたせばくもゐはるかにかくるせこなは
masurao ga
asa fumu noji o
miwataseba
kumoi haruka ni
kakuru sekonawa | A brawny man
Has in the morning trod this trackways
I gaze upon, so
Among the distant clouds
Dangle hunter’s snares. |
Fujiwara no Akisuke
Left
おもひにはあふ空さへやもえわたるあさたつ雲を煙とはして
omoi ni wa
au sora sae ya
moewataru
asa tatsu kumo o
keburi to wa shite | Is it our fires of passion
Meeting in the skies, and
Burning all?
The clouds rising with the morning
Have turned to smoke… |
166
Right
明けぬとて帰る道にはこきたれて雨もなみだもふりそほちつつ
akenu tote
kaeru michi ni wa
kokitarete
ame mo namida mo
furisōchitsutsu | Tis the break of day, and
On the road back home
Descending sheets of
Rain, and my tears, too
Soak me to the skin… |
Lord Toshiyuki
167[1]
[1] Kokinshū XIII: 639/Kokin rokujō V: 2732
A spring poem, from the Shōji Hundred Poem Sequences.
水茎の跡もとまらず見ゆるかな浪と雲とにかへる雁がね
mizukuki no
ato mo tomarazu
miyuru kana
nami to kumo to ni
kaeru kari ga ne | Faint traceries on the water
Leave no sign,
It seems!
Waves and clouds together with
A returning goose’s cry. |
Jakuren
Left
をみなへし匂へる野辺にやどりせばあやなくあだの名をやたちなん
ominaeshi
nioeru nobe ni
yadoriseba
ayanaku ada no
na o ya tachinan | A maidenflower
Shines in the meadows, and
Should I find lodging there,
Carelessly, would fickle
Rumour arise? |
Ono no Yoshiki
88
Right
秋風にさそはれ来つる雁がねの雲ゐはるかにけふぞ聞ゆる
akikaze ni
sasowarekitsuru
kari ga ne no
kumoi haruka ni
kyō zo kikoyuru | On the autumn breeze
Has come, inviting,
A goose’s cry
From among the distant clouds
Today I hear it. |
89
The winter moon.
木の葉なき梢のかぜは音さびて村雲たかき有明のかげ
ko no ha naki
kozue no kaze wa
oto sabite
muragumo takaki
ariake no kage | In the leafless
Treetops the wind’s
Sound is lonely, indeed, while
Above the high, crowding clouds is
The light at dawn. |
'Simply moving and elegant'