Lilac Daphne
Left (Tie)
かたをかにひのはな ばなにみえつるはこのもかのもにたれかつけつる
kataoka ni hi no hana bana ni mietsuru wa konomo kanomo ni tare katsuketsuru Upon the hillside The fires as flowers Do appear— Here and there, Who has kindled them?
Tsurayuki 17
Right
わたつみのおきなかにひのはな れいでてもゆとみゆるはあまつほしかも
watatsumi no oki naka ni hi no hana re’idete moyu to miyuru wa ama tsu hoshi kamo Across the broad sea sweep Upon the offing, fires In the distance Burn it seems— Stars within the heavens, perhaps…
Tomonori 18
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
ひとりぬる我が手枕を昼はほし夜はぬらして幾代へぬらん
hitori nuru wa ga tamakura o hiru wa hoshi yo wa nurashite iku yo henuran Sleeping alone, Pillowed on my arm, In daytime it’s dry, and At night it’s drenched— How many ages will pass by so?
184[1]
Right
ほのに見し人におもひをつけそめて心からこそしたにこがるれ
hono ni mishi hito ni omoi o tsukesomete kokoro kara koso shita ni kogarure Faintly did I see Her, and the fires of passion First ignited; From within my heart, I secretly smoulder.
185[2]
[1] Shinsenzaishū XII: 1251/This poem is also included in Mandaishū (XII: 2360) with the headnote, ‘A poem from the Poetry Contest in One Hundred Rounds held by the Tōin Empress’.
[2] A minor variant of this poem, with a headnote attributing it to this contest, appears in Shokukokinshū (XI: 1038): よそにみし人におもひをつけそめてこころからこそしたにこがるれ yoso ni mishi / hito ni omoi o / tsukesomete / kokoro kara koso / shita ni kogarure ‘Casually did I see / Her, and the fires of passion / First ignited; / From within my heart, / I secretly smoulder.’
Left
おもひにはあふ空さへやもえわたるあさたつ雲を煙とはして
omoi ni wa au sora sae ya moewataru asa tatsu kumo o keburi to wa shite Is it our fires of passion Meeting in the skies, and Burning all? The clouds rising with the morning Have turned to smoke…
166
Right
明けぬとて帰る道にはこきたれて雨もなみだもふりそほちつつ
akenu tote kaeru michi ni wa kokitarete ame mo namida mo furisōchitsutsu Tis the break of day, and On the road back home Descending sheets of Rain, and my tears, too Soak me to the skin…
Lord Toshiyuki 167[1]
[1] Kokinshū XIII: 639/Kokin rokujō V: 2732
'Simply moving and elegant'