Summer

Left

夏くればかみにあふひの草つみてかざしにいのるひとにばかりぞ

natsu kureba kami ni aoi no kusa tsumite kazashi ni inoru hito ni bakari zo

When the summer comes For the God, hollyhocks  Are plucked, and for a Prayer placed in the hair of All folk, every one!

7

夏草も茂りにければ駿河なる田子のうらなへ今やひくらん

natsu kusa mo shigerinikereba suruga naru tago no ura nae ima ya hikuran

The summer grasses, too, Have grown lush, so As Suruga’s Tago Bay, Do they now extend their charm?

8

夏虫のやどるにまつは色ならで春秋空にうつろひやする

natsumushi no yadoru ni matsu wa iro narade haru aki sora ni utsuroi ya suru

The summer insects Lodge upon the pines Unchanging hues; Is it the spring and autumn skies Which fade away?

9

Right

卯花の咲く夏の夜はやみなれどかきねにやどる月かとぞみる

u no hana no saku natsu no yo wa yami naredo kakine ni yadoru tsuki ka to zo miru

The deutzia flowers Bloom upon a summer night ‘Tis dark, yet Lodged upon my brushwood fence I wonder if I see the moon?

10

五月きぬことかたらはむほととぎす君にあふちの花も咲きけり

satsuki kinu koto katarawamu hototogisu kimi ni auchi no hana mo sakikeri

That the Fifth Month has come Is announced by The cuckoo: For you, the chinaberry Blossoms, too, have bloomed.

11

空蝉のからにはあらで置く露の身をあらたむる心なるべし

utsusemi no kara ni wa arade oku tsuyu no mi o aratamuru kokoro narubeshi

A cicada’s shed Shell I am not, for The dripping dew Does refresh my flesh, or So my heart seems to feel.

12