Left
かくをしむあきにしあはばをみなへしうつろふことはわすれやはせぬ
| kaku oshimu aki ni shi awaba ominaeshi utsurou koto wa wasure ya wa senu | If feeling such regret I should encounter autumn, then O, maidenflower, To fade You should not forget, should you? |
11
Right
ながきよにたれたのめけむをみなへしひとまつむしのえだごとになく
| nagaki yo ni tare tanomekemu ominaeshi hito matsumushi no edagoto ni naku | On a long, long night Who is it has made you believe, O, maidenflower? Pining for him while crickets Cry from your every branch… |
12[1]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 536; Fubokushō 4231
Left
あき風にほころびぬらむ藤ばかまつづりさせてふきりぎりす鳴く
| akikaze ni hokorobinuramu fujibakama tsuzurisase chō kirigirisu naku | The autumn wind Seems to have burst the buds of The asters ‘Sew them back together!’ say The crickets’ cries. |
Ariwara no Muneyana
94
Right
秋の夜のあめときこえて降りつるは風に散りつる紅葉なりけり
| aki no yo no ame to kikoete furitsuru wa kaze ni chiritsuru momiji narikeri | On an autumn night The sound of rain Falling is The wind scattered Scarlet leaves. |
95
Topic unknown.
あき風のふきくるよひはきりぎりす草のねごとにこゑみだれけり[1]
| akikaze no fukikuru yoi wa kirigirisu kusa no ne goto ni koe midarekeri | The autumn wind Comes gusting late at night, when The crickets From every single blade of grass Let out confused cries. |
Anonymous
[1] This poem appears in the ‘Poetry Contest held at Prince Koresada’s House’ (Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase (42).
あきのよにたれをまつとかひぐらしのゆふぐれごとになきまさるらん
| aki no yo ni tare o matsu to ka higurashi no yūgure goto ni nakimasaruran | On an autumn night Who is it that you await, I wonder? The sundown cicadas With each evening Cry ever louder… |
41
あき風のふきくるよひはきりぎりす草のねごとにこゑみだれけり[1]
| akikaze no fukikuru yoi wa kirigirisu kusa no ne goto ni koe midarekeri | The autumn wind Comes gusting late at night, when The crickets From every single blade of grass Let out confused cries. |
42
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor.
秋風にほころびぬらし藤袴つづりさせてふきりぎりすなく
| akikaze ni Fokorobinurasi Fudibakama tudurisasete teFu kirigirisu naku | With the autumn breeze Seem to have bloomed and twined The asters Bound together by the rasping Crickets’ cries.[1] |
Ariwara no Muneyana
[1] This poem is composed around a dual wordplay, which I have not been able to closely replicate in the translation. Hokorobu is simultaneously both ‘bloom fully’ and ‘thread (a needle)’ while tsuzuru is both ‘sew together’ and an onomatopoeic representation of the sound that a cricket makes.
