Preparing Tribute 貢調
いやしきや民のいとなく道もせにつきせず運ぶみつぎ物かな
iyashiki ya
tami no itonaku
michi mo se ni
tsukisezu hakobu
mitsukimono kana | How humble are
The folk busily
On every single road
Ceaselessly transporting
Their tributes! |
Daishin
Preparing Tribute 貢調
皇の民やすらけくをさむればひまなくはこぶ御調物かな
sumeragi no
tami yasurakeku
osamureba
himanaku hakobu
mitsukimono kana | His Majesty’s
Folk tranquilly
Prepare so,
Never-resting they transport
Their tributes! |
Higo
Gosechi 五節
日影さすをみのあかひもうちとけて立ちまふ人をもてはやすなり
hikage sasu
omi no akahimo
uchitokete
tachimau hito o
motehayasunari | Sunlight falls on
Scarlet purification cords,
Undone as
The dancing folk do
Shine so bright! |
Toshiyori
Composed when people stopped to view the wisteria blooming at his house.
わが宿にさけるふぢなみ立帰すぎがてにのみ人の見る覧
wa ga yado ni
sakeru Fudinami
tatikaFeri
sugigate ni nomi
Fito no miruran | At my house
Bloom wisteria waves,
Breaking and returning;
Simply impossible to pass by
Folk find the sight, it seems. |
Mitsune
Composed when someone said there was nothing that scattered as swiftly as cherry blossom.
桜花とくちりぬとも思ほえず人の心ぞ風もふきあへぬ
sakurabana
toku tirinu tomo
omoFoezu
Fito no kokoro zo
kaze mo FukiaFenu | Cherry blossoms
Are swiftly scattered –
I think not, for
Folks’ hearts, too
Are fluttered by the breeze. |
Tsurayuki
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
'Simply moving and elegant'