Composed on the picture of people blossom-viewing beneath the falling cherries on a folding screen at the celebrations of the fiftieth birthday of Her Majesty, the Empress, held by Prince Sadayasu.
いたづらにすぐす月日はおもほえで花見てくらす春ぞすくなき
itadurani
sugusu tukiFi Fa
omoFoede
Fanamitekurasu
Faru zo sukunaki
In idleness
Days and months I’ve spent:
I feel nothing for them.
A life spent blossom-viewing
In springtime is too short, indeed.
During the Kanpyō period, when he was ordered to present an old poem, he wrote out the poem starting ‘Along the River Tatsuta/Flow scarlet leaves’ and composed this in the same spirit.
み山よりおちくる水の色見てぞ秋は限と思ひしりぬる
miyama yori
otikuru midu no
iro mite zo
aki Fa kagiri to
omoFishirinuru
From the mountains’ heart
Tumbles water:
A glimpse at its hue and that
Autumn is done
I know, indeed.