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