On fireflies.
己が火を木々の螢や花の宿
| ono ga hi o kigi no hotaru ya hana no yado |
With their own fires Do the fireflies among the trees Make them a flowered bower? |
(1690-91)
Tag Archives: fireflies
kono hotaru
On fireflies.
此ほたる田ごとのつきにくらべみん
| kono hotaru tagoto no tsuki ni kurabemin |
These fireflies To the autumn moon above the rice-fields Do compare. |
(1688)
SKKS XVII: 1591
Topic unknown.
はるゝよのほしかゝはべの螢かもわがすむかたのあまのたくひか
| haruru yo no hoshi ka kawabe no hotaru kamo wa ga sumu kata no ama no taku hi ka |
On this fine night, Are those stars? Or, by the riverbank Fireflies, perhaps? Or even, near my home, Fires kindled by the fisherfolk? |
Ariwara no Narihira
在原業平
SKKS III: 272
Composed watching fireflies flying upwards.
いづちとかよるは蛍のゝぼるらんゆくかたしらぬ草の枕に
| izuchi to ka yoru wa hotaru no noboruran yuku kata shiranu kusa no makura ni |
Whither bound? At night the fireflies Ascend; Destination unknown, Pausing briefly, pillowed on the grasses. |
Mibu no Tadami
SZS III: 202
Topic unknown.
哀にもみさをにもゆる螢かな聲たてつべき此世と思ふに
| aFare ni mo misawo ni moyuru Fotaru kana kowe tatetubeki kono yo to omoFu ni |
It moves me to see, Burning above the mooring poles, Fireflies For I could cry out loud At this world of ours. |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
SZS III: 201
Composed as a firefly poem, when he presented a hundred-poem sequence.
昔わがあつめし物を思ひ出てみなれがほにも來る螢かな
| mukasi wa ga atumesi mono wo omoFi’idete minaregaFo ni mo kuru Fotaru kana |
In my youth I Gathered them– How well I do recall The familiar sight Of approaching fireflies. |
Fujiwara no Suemichi
GSIS XX: 1162
When she had been forgotten by a man, she went to Kibune, and composed this on seeing fireflies flitting about by the Mitarashi River.
物思へば澤の螢も我身よりあくがれ出づる玉かとぞみる
| mono’omoFeba saFa no Fotaru mo wa ga mi yori akugare iduru tama ka to zo miru |
I’m at such a loss; Fireflies by the marsh: From my breast Wanders out My soul, or so it seems. |
Izumi Shikibu
和泉式部
GSIS III: 216
Composed on fireflies.
おともせで思ひにもゆる螢こそなく虫よりも哀なりけれ
| oto mo sede omoFi ni moyuru Fotaru koso naku musi yori mo aFare narikere |
Making no sound Yet burning with love, Fireflies far More than chirping insects, Move me. |
Minamoto no Shigeyuki
GSS V: 252
Topic unknown.
ゆく螢雲の上までいぬべくは秋風吹くと雁に告げこせ
| yuku Fotaru kumo no uFe made inubeku Fa aki kaze Fuku to kari ni tugekose |
O, flitting fireflies, Beyond the clouds Should you ascend, then say, ‘ The Autumn wind is blowing!’ To the geese. |
Narihira
業平
KKS XII: 562
A poem composed at a competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress during the Kampyô era (889-898).
ゆふされば螢よりけにもゆれどもひかりみねばや人のつれなき
| yuFu sareba Fotaru yori ke ni moyuredomo Fikari mineba ya Fito no turenaki |
With the fall of evening, The fireflies’ are as nothing beside My burning, yet I cast no light, so Will my love stay chill? |
Ki no Tomonori
紀友則