The Names of the Buddhas
人わたす三世の仏のなをきけばむかしのつみもいまや消ゆらん
hito watasu
miyo no hotoke no
na o kikeba
mukashi no tsumi mo
ima ya kiyuran | All folk
The three worlds’ Buddhas’
Names hear, and
Even sins from days long gone
Have now vanished all away. |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
The Names of the Buddhas
小夜ふけて今ぞ法のしいでぬらんくものうへ人なのりすらしも
sayo fukete
ima zo nori no shi
idenuran
kumo no uebito
nanori surashi mo | The brief night breaks, and
Now, the recitation
Does seem to emerge;
Folk from above the clouds
Presenting their own names… |
Minamoto no Kanemasa
源兼昌
濡れ衣と人にいはすな菊の花齢延ぶとぞ我そぼちつる
nureginu to
Fito ni iFasu na
kiku no Fana
yoFaFi nobu to zo
ware sobotituru |
That you have no effect –
Give folk no cause to say it,
O chrysanthemum blooms!
Saying you’ll prolong my years
I am drenched right through! |
百年を人に留むる玉なればあだにやは見る菊の上の露
momotose wo
Fito ni todomuru
tama nareba
ada ni ya Fa miru
kiku no uFe no tuyu |
A century
For folk is halted
By these gems, so
Can I look lightly on
Dewdrops upon chrysanthemums? |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Left (Tie).
憂き人に思ひ消たるる身の程を知らぬは戀の煙也けり
ukibito ni
omoiketaruru
mi no hodo o
shiranu wa koi no
kemuri narikeri |
From that cruel one’s
Thoughts, extinguished
I am, all
Unknowing of love’s
Embers smoking. |
Lord Kanemune.
953
Right.
昔かく戀する人や富士の嶺の絶えぬ煙と燃えはじめけん
mukashi kaku
koisuru hito ya
fuji no ne no
taenu keburi to
moehajimeken |
Long ago, in such
Love did folk as
The peak of Fuji
With everlasting smoke
Begin to burn? |
The Supernumerary Master of the Empress’ Household Office.
954
The Right state: the Left’s poem has no faults. The Left state: the Right’s poem is pedestrian.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘cruel one’ (ukibito) and the Right’s ‘folk in love’ (koisuru hito) should tie.
Left (Tie).
早苗より穂にいづるまで守る田をかりにのみこそ人は見えけれ
sanaFe yori
Fo ni iduru made
mamoru ta wo
kari ni nomi koso
Fito Fa miekere | From seedlings
Until ripened ears appear,
Warding the paddies,
Only briefly, then,
Can folk be seen! |
Anonymous
13
Right.
秋の田に並みよる稲は山川に水ひきうゑし早苗なりけり
aki no ta ni
nami yoru ine Fa
yamagaFa ni
midu Fiki’uwesi
sanaFe narikeri | In the autumn fields
Waves run through the ripening rice;
From a mountain stream
Drawn up, the waters
Seedlings have become… |
Yori’ie
頼家
14
宿ごとに花橘ぞ匂ひける人聞かずゑに風は吹けども
yado goto ni
hanatachibana zo
nioikeru
hito kikazue ni
kaze wa fukedomo |
Round every dwelling is
Orange blossoms’
Scent;
Folk pay no heed, yet
The breeze blows on… |
Fujiwara no Kinzane (1053-1107)
藤原公実
The Kamo Festival (加茂祭)
人よりもたのみぞかくるあふひ草わきても神のしるしみせなん
hito yori mo
tanomi zo kakuru
aoigusa
wakite mo kami no
shirushi misenan |
Rather than the folk,
Their prayers are hidden by
Hollyhocks:
Part them and the Gods’
Sign is revealed… |
Higo
京極関白家肥後
Composed and sent to someone who had come to see the cherry blossoms blooming at his house.
わが宿の花見がてらに来る人は散りなむのちぞこひしかるべき
wa ga yado no
Fanami ga tera ni
kuru Fito Fa
tirinamu noti zo
koFisikarubeki |
To my home
For blossom-viewing
Folk come, but
After they have scattered
How fond of them I am! |
Ōshikōchi no Mitsune
'Simply moving and elegant'