Love Waiting for Someone 待人恋
いまこむとたのめし人のなかりせばねてあり明の月をみましや
| ima komu to tanomeshi hito no nakariseba nete ariake no tsuki o mimashi ya | ‘I’ll be coming now,’ said The one in whom I’ve placed my trust, but He is not here, so Should I to bed and with the dawn Upon the moon rest my gaze? |
Nakazane
Spring Dawn
あづさ弓はるかにみれば山のはによこ雲わたるあけぼののそら
| azusayumi haruka ni mireba yama no ha ni yokogumo wataru akebono no sora | A catalpa bow Seen in the distance: Across the mountains’ edge Trail streaks of cloud in The sky at dawn. |
Higo
Left (Win)
ほかにまた待つ人あれや時鳥心長閑かに声の聞えぬ
| Foka ni mata matu Fito are ya Fototogisu kokoro nodoka ni kowe no kikoenu |
Is there any other who still Awaits as I, O, cuckoo? Heart at peace with Your song unheard… |
15
Right
二声と聞かでややまむ時鳥暁近くなりもしぬらむ
| Futakowe to kikade ya yamamu Fototogisu akatuki tikaku nari mo sinuramu |
Will your twin cries Cease before they’re heard, O, cuckoos? With approaching dawn It seems they die… |
16
Left
たれか又暁ごとに夢さめて羽掻く鴫の声を聞くらむ
| tareka mata akatuki goto ni yume samete Fane kaku sigi no kowe wo kikuramu |
Who is it that yet With every single dawn Awakens from her dreams, and The wing-beating snipes’ Cries does hear? |
Koma
小馬
17
Right
我ならで誰か聞くらむ暁の羽掻く鴫の数を尽くして
| ware narade tare ka kikuramu akatuki no Fane kaku sigi no kazu wo tukusite |
If not I, then Who is it that will hear? With the dawn The snipes’ wing-beats Coming to an end… |
Saemon
左衛門
18
照る月を昼かと見れば暁に羽核搔く鴫もあらじとそ思ふ
| teru tuki wo Firu ka to mireba akatuki ni Fane kaku sigi mo arazi to zo omoFu |
The shining moon Makes it seem like noon, so With the dawn, Beating their wings, even the snipe Have gone, I feel. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
In Kanpyō-Shōhō 2 [750], on the 24th day of the Third Month, it would be near to the beginning of summer in the Fourth Month, so he composed these two poems when, on the evening of the 23rd day, he suddenly thought of a cuckoo calling at dawn.
常人も起きつつ聞くぞ霍公鳥この暁に来鳴く初声
| tunepito mo okitutu kiku zo pototogisu kono akatoki ni kinaku patugowe |
The folk of this world Remain awake and listen for The cuckoo With the dawn today To arrive and give his first call. |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi
Left (Win).
あか月にあらぬ別も今はとて我が世ふくれば添ふ思ひかな
| akatsuki ni aranu wakare mo ima wa tote wa ga yo fukureba sou omoi kana |
At dawn This parting is not; Now it is When my life reaches twilight – I think… |
Lord Sada’ie.
851
Right.
翁さび身は惜しからぬ戀衣今はと濡れん人なとがめそ
| okina sabi mi wa oshikaranu koigoromo ima wa to nuren hito na togame so |
Feeling like an ancient, But I regret it not! My loving clothes: Now’s the time to dampen them But blame me not! |
Jakuren.
852
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults to mention. The Left state: we wonder about the appropriateness of ‘now’s the time to dampen them’ (ima wa to nuren).
In judgement: ‘Feeling like an ancient’ (okina sabi) ‘now’s the time to dampen them’ (ima wa to nuren) does not sound like it fits formally with ‘but I regret it not!’ (mi wa oshikaranu). The Left, in addition to sounding like it has no faults, has ‘this parting is not; now it is’ (aranu wakare mo ima wa tote), which certainly sounds right. It is superior.
Topic unknown.
風わたる軒端の梅に鴬の鳴きてこつたふ春の曙
| kaze wataru nokiba no mume ni uguFisu no nakite ko tutaFu Faru no akebono |
Breeze brushed, Upon the plum beneath my eaves The bush-warbler’s Song tells me this: it is The dawn in springtime. |
Provisional Major Councillor Sane’ie (1145-1193)
権大納言実家
Topic unknown.
梅が枝の花にこつたふ鶯の声さへにほふ春の曙
| mume ga e no Fana ni ko tutaFu uguFisu no kowe saFe niFoFu Faru no akebono |
A branch of plum Blossom tells me this: The bush-warbler’s Very voice does shine at The dawn in springtime. |
Cloistered Prince Shukaku
Spring Dawn
花盛り心も空にあくがれておきゐてぞ見る春の曙
| hana sakari kokoro mo sora ni akugarete oki’ite zo miru haru no akebono |
The blossoms are profuse, and My heart to the skies Is drawn, Resting my gaze This spring dawn. |
Daishin