Old Folk.
すかがみそこなるかげにむかひゐてみるときにこそしらぬおきなにあふここちすれ
masukagami soko naru kage ni mukai’ite miru toki ni koso shiranu okina ni au kokochi ni sure | In a clear glass There is a face Turning to it I look and An unknown old man I feel I have met. |
Left
人しれずしたにながるる涙川せきとどめなむかげは見ゆると
hito shirezu shita ni nagaruru namidagawa seki todomenamu kage wa miyuru to | Unknown to all Beneath there flows A river of tears; O, for a dam to halt it, that I could glimpse her face… |
192[1]
Right
もえもあはぬこなたかなたの思ひかな涙の河の中にゆけばか
moe mo awanu konata kanata no omoi kana namida no kawa no naka ni yukeba ka | Burning, unmatched, are My multitude of Passion’s fires! For into a river of tears Have I plunged? |
Tsurayuki
193
[1] Shokugosenshū XI: 640/Shinsen man’yōshū 227.
Left
白玉のきえて涙と成りぬれば恋しきかげを袖にこそ見れ
shiratama no kiete namida to narinureba koishiki kage o sode ni koso mire | Pearls Vanish and to tears Have turned, so Her beloved face I will see upon my sleeves. |
160
Right
人を見ておもふ事だに有るものを空にこふるぞはかなかりける
hito o mite omou koto dani aru mono o sora ni kōru zo hakanakarikeru | I saw her, and Thoughts simply Filled me, but In the skies, love is Fleeting, indeed! |
161
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
人しれずしたにながるる涙川せきとどめなむかげは見ゆると
hito shirezu shita ni nagaruru namidagawa seki todomenamu kage wa miyuru to | Unknown to all Beneath there flows A river of tears; O, for a dam to halt it, that I could glimpse her face… |
Anonymous
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
夏の夜は水まさればやあまのがはながるる月のかげもとどめぬ
natsu no yo wa mizu masareba ya ama no kawa nagaruru tsuki no kage mo todomenu | On a summer night Perhaps, because the waters are so fine Of the River of Heaven? Drifting, the moon’s Face, too, tarries not. |
Anonymous
Round Twelve
Left
冬の夜の月はとほくやわたりけんかげみしみづのまづしこほれば
fuyu no yo no tsuki wa tōku ya watariken kage mishi mizu no mazu shi kōreba | On a winter’s night Does the moon distantly Pass by? For The waters where I saw its face Are the first to freeze… |
22
Right
ながれくるみづこほりぬる冬さへやなほうき草のあとはさだめぬ
nagarekuru mizu kōrinuru fuyu sae ya nao ukikusa no ato wa sadamenu | Flowing down The waters have frozen With the winter, so will The drifting waterweed still Leave little trace? |
23
あきのむしなどわびしげにこゑのするたのめしかげに露やもりくる
aki no mushi nado wabishige ni koe no suru tanomeshi kage ni tsuyu ya morikuru | Why do the autumn insects And more let out plaintive Cries; Is your trustworthy face Drenched in dew? |
67
もみぢばのながれてゆけば山がはのあさきせだにもあきはふかみぬ
momijiba no nagareteyukeba yamagawa no asaki se dani mo aki wa fukaminu | The scarlet leaves Have come flowing, so The mountain stream’s Shallow rapids—even they Are deep in autumn! |
68