大堰川鵜舟の手縄うちはへて夜な夜な瀬せをすみかとぞする
ōikawa
ubune no tanawa
uchihaete
yonayona sese o
sumika to zo suru |
Upon the River Ōi
The cormorant boats’ hawsers
Are tangled;
Night after night upon the rapids
Do they make their dwelling. |
Cormorant Fishing on the River (鵜河)
かひのぼるう舟のなはのしげければせぶしのあゆの行かたやなき
kainoboru
ubune no nawa no
shigekereba
sebushi no ayu no
yuku kata ya naki | Heading upstream
The cormorant boats’ hawsers
Are so many that
Sweetfish through the rapids
Have no path to take! |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
Cormorant Fishing on the River (鵜河)
うかひ舟つなでくだすと見えつるはいそぎてたぐるたなはなりける
ukaibune
tsunade kudasu to
mietsuru wa
isogite taguru
tanawa narikeri | On a cormorant boat,
When the hawsers dropping
I see
Quickly roll up
The rigging! |
Kanemasa
'Simply moving and elegant'