When the gentlemen and ladies of the household of the Minister of the Left were getting dressed for a coming-of-age ceremony.
大原やをしほの山のこまつ原はや木高かれ千代の影みむ
oFoFara ya
wosiFo no yama no
komatubara
haya ko takakare
tiyo no kage mimu |
At Ōhara,
On Oshio Mountain
The young pine saplings
Will grow swiftly into mighty trees and
See a thousand generations pass! |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Composed in felicitation for a certain person:
ちとせふる霜の鶴をばおきながらひさしき物は君にぞありける
titose Furu
simo no turu woba
okinagara
Fisasiki mono Fa
kimi zo arikeru |
A thousand years go by
For the frost-covered cranes
Beside you;
Even longer life will
Be yours, My Lord! |
Provisional Middle Councillor [Fujiwara no] Atsutada (906-943)
権中納言敦忠
Composed on the conception of Felicitation for a poetry competition held by the Kokiden Consort during the reign of Emperor Go-ichijō.
君が代は末の松山はるばるとこす白浪のかずも知られず
kimi ga yo Fa
suwe no matuyama no
Farubaru to
kosu siranami no
kazu mo shirarezu |
Your Majesty’s reign:
Upon the pine-clad peak of Sué,
So distant
Break whitecaps
In numbers unknown to all! |
The Monk Eisei
永成法師
Composed for the Poetry Competition held at the Residence of the Former Uji Grand Minister in Chōgen 8 [1035].
君が世は白雲かかる筑波嶺の峰のつづきの海となるまで
kimi ga yo Fa
sirakumo kakaru
tukubane no
mine no tuduki no
umi to naru made |
My Lord’s reign:
White clouds cling
To the peak of Tsukuba;
Until those very heights
Shall sink into the sea! |
Nōin
On presenting a wig to a certain exalted personage:
君がためやをよのかみをかけつゝもなをすぢごとにいのらるゝかな
kimi ga tame
yawo no kami wo
kaketutu mo
nawo sudigoto ni
inoraruru kana |
For you, my lord, upon
All eight million gods
I’ve called, and
For every strand
Have prayed |
In reply, the Major Captain:
祝ふなる岩のあやめも今日よりは千代のはじめに引きはじむべき
iFaFu naru
iFa no ayame mo
keFu yori Fa
tiyo no Fazime ni
FikiFazimubeki |
All good things, I pray, for
This rock-top sweet flag:
From this day forth
Let a thousand years of fortune
Begin to flow. |
When the Imperial Consort from the Koichijō Estate gave birth to her first son, the third night fell upon he fifth day of the Fifth Month.
岩の上のあやめや千代を重ぬらむ今日も五月の五日と思へば
iFa no uFe no
ayame ya tiyo wo
kasanuramu
keFu mo satuki no
ituka to omoFeba |
Atop the rocks,
The sweet-flag will a thousand years
Endure, no doubt;
For this day is the Fifth Month’s
Fifth day, I’m sure. |
My reply:
これやこの海士の住むてふ濱びさし七日ゆくまのなにこそありけれ
kore ya kono
ama no sumu teFu
Famabisasi
nanuka yuku ma no
na ni koso arikere |
Well now, well now!
Fisher folk dwell in
Huts upon the beach;
For this Seventh Night
Fish is provided! |
When Tsutsugimi was born, on the Seventh Night Middle Captain Michitsuna heard of it and started by saying to me:
知らずして七日ゆくまでなりにける數まさるなる濱のまさごを
sirazusite
nanuka yuku made
narinikeru
kazu masarunaru
Fama no masago wo |
All unknowing
Upon the Seventh Night
Are we arrived;
An age as great as
Grains of sand upon the beach… |
Composed on a spring by a pine tree in the Sixth Month, for a folding screen for the Daijō Festivities in the Ninth Year of Kenkyū (1199).
ときはなる松井の水をむすぶてのしづくごとにぞちよはみえける
tokiwa naru
matsui no mizu o
musubu te no
shizuku goto ni zo
chi yo wa miekeru |
In Tokiwa
The waters from the pine-tree spring are
Held in gathered hands-
Every single drop that falls
Shows the passage of a thousand years. |
Provisional Middle Councillor [Fujiwara no] Sukezane
'Simply moving and elegant'