Composed on the cherry blossom at the Un’rin-in.
いざさくら我もちりなん一盛り有なば人に憂きめもみえなん
iza sakura
ware mo tirinan
Fitosakari
arinaba Fito ni
ukime mo mienan | O, cherries,
Might I scatter, too?
Once I was in my prime,
But now folk
Simply see my wretched state! |
The Monk Sōku
Composed for a poetry competition held during the reign of Emperor Uda.
見る人もなき山里のさくらばなほかのちりなんのちぞさかまし
miru Fito mo
naki yamazato no
sakurabana
Foka no tirinan
noti zo sakamasi | With folk to see you
Not a one, in this mountain home,
O, cherry blossoms,
After all the others are scattered and gone
Would I have you bloom! |
Ise
Love and Rivers.
思ふ事水ぐき河にかき流し見れど渡の人に見せなん
omou koto
mizuguki kawa
kakinagashi
miredo watari no
hito ni misenan | My feelings
As overflowing rivulets
Do race, and
Though they will be plain, to the surrounding
Folk shall I display them… |
Fujiwara no Tadamichi
飛火野に萌え出でにける早蕨を焼くと聞きてや人の折るらむ
tobuhino ni
moeidenikeru
sawarabi o
yaku to kikite ya
hito no oruramu |
On Tobuhi Plain
Budded out
The fresh bracken
Will burn, I hear, or
Might folk pick it? |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
Topic unknown.
ちちわくに人はいふともおりてきむわかはた物に白き麻衣
titiwaku ni
Fito Fa iFu tomo
orite kimu
wa ga Fatamono ni
siroki asaginu |
At any rate
Folk do say,
Weave it, and we’ll try it on –
Lying on my loom,
A white coat of hemp! |
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
柿本人麻呂
Left
時鳥雲井の声を聞く人は心も空になりぞしにける
Fototogisu
kumowi no kowe wo
kiku Fito Fa
kokoro mo sora ni
nari zo sinikeru |
A cuckoo
From the clouds your call
Folk hear, and
Their hearts with the skies
One do become! |
11
Right (Win)
小夜更けて起きて待たずば時鳥はつかなる音もいかで聞かまし
sayo Fukete
okite matazuba
Fototogisu
Fatukanaru ne mo
ikade kikamasi |
A brief night dawns, and
Had I not awaited to arise
A cuckoo’s
Momentary cry
Somehow I might have heard… |
12
Left
鳴くになど驚かるらむ時鳥呼ぶ人毎にありと聞きつつ
naku ni nado
odorokaruramu
Fototogisu
yobu Fito goto ni
ari to kikitutu |
Why does your song
Startle me so
O, cuckoo?
All the folk you call
Are there, do I ever hear… |
5
Right (Win)
知らねども答へやせまし時鳥元つ人てふ声を哀れと
siranedomo
kotaFe ya semasi
Fototogisu
moto tu Fito teFu
kowe wo aFare to |
I know it not, yet
I wonder will you reply,
O, cuckoo?
A familiar friend’s
Voice is moving, indeed. |
6
When he had gone to Kibune, he wrote this on the fence surrounding the shrine.
思ふ事なる河上に跡垂れて貴船は人を渡す也けり
omoFu koto
naru kaFa kami ni
atotarete
kibune Fa Fito wo
watasu narikeri |
The focus of my thoughts
Are the river’s upper flows,
Where incarnated
The deity at Kibune, folk
Transports. |
Fujiwara no Tokifusa
藤原時房
祈事を聞かず洗ふる神だにも今日は夏越と人は知らなむ
negigoto wo
kikazu araFuru
kami dani mo
keFu Fa nagosi to
Fito Fa siranamu |
Prayers
Unheeding, and bathing
Are the gods themselves;
That this day is the summer purification
Do all folk know! |
Minamoto no Shitagō
源順
Composed on the beginning of love.
無名たつ人だに世にはある物を君戀る身と知られぬぞうき
nakina tatu
Fito dani yo ni Fa
aru mono wo
kimi koFuru mi to
sirarenu zo uki |
Baseless rumours rise
Of folk in this world –
That happens, but
That I love you
Goes unknown is painful, indeed! |
Jitsugen
実源
'Simply moving and elegant'