On cicadas.
黙もあらむ時も鳴かなむひぐらしの物思ふ時に鳴きつつもとな
| moda mo aramu toki mo nakanamu pigurasi no mono’omopu toki ni nakitutu motona |
When all is tranquil Then, too, would I have you sing O evening cicada! But when I’m so sunk in thought Do you cry endlessly! |
Anonymous
A poem by Ōtomo no Yakamochi on the evening cicada.
隠りのみ居ればいぶせみ慰むと出で立ち聞けば来鳴くひぐらし
| komori nomi woreba ibusemi nagusamu to idetachi kikeba kinaku pigurasi |
Shut indoors and Sunk in misery, I wonder what would console me; Going outside, I listen and, The evening cicadas come calling… |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi
When he had gone to Saga to dig up plants for his garden.
日暮しに見れ共あかぬ女郎花のべにや今宵旅ねしなまし
| higurasi ni miredomo akanu wominaFesi nobe ni ya koyoFi tabinesinamasi |
At the sunset I see, yet cannot get my fill Of maidenflowers, so In the fields tonight Should I make a traveller’s bed? |
Fujiwara no Nagayoshi
藤原長能
Composed at the time a hundred poem sequence was presented, during the reign of former Emperor Horikawa.
山里は淋しかりけり木枯らしの吹く夕暮の日暮の声
| yamazato Fa sabisikarikeri kogarasi no Fuku yuFugure no Figurasi no kowe |
A mountain dwelling Seems lonely: When the chill winter wind Blows on an evening with The sunset cicadas’ song… |
Fujiwara no Nakazane
藤原仲実
Left (Tie).
小雨降る葛飾早稲を刈るまゝに民の袖さへうるほひにけり
| kosame furu katsushika wase o karu mama ni tami no sode sae uruoinikeri |
Showers fall in Katsushika; early ripened rice Reaping, Even the peasants’ sleeves Are damp. |
371
Right (Tie).
小萩咲く片山陰に日晩の鳴すさびたる村雨のそら
| kohagi saku katayamakage ni higurashi no nakisu sabitaru murasame no sora |
Bush clover blooming In the mountain’s shade; The sundown cicadas Sing intermittently To the showery skies. |
372
Neither team has any criticisms to make.
Shunzei say, ‘The style and construction of both poems is superb, though the Left’s is particularly archaic in tone, and thus using mama ni in the central section is somewhat weak, is it not? Surely, “Whilst reaping” (karu nae ni) would have been a better fit! The Right’s simple conclusion of “showery skies” (murasame no sora) is particularly effective. However, the Left, too, with “even the peasants’ sleeves” (tami no sode sae) shows a fine spirit. The two poems are a match and tie.’
With the same conception.
葉を繁み外山の影やまがふらむ明くるも知らぬひぐらしのこゑ
| Fa wo sigemi toyama no kage ya magaFuramu akuru mo siranu Figurasi no kowe |
So lush with leaves, Do the nearby mountains ’shapes All blend to one, I wonder; All unknowing of the light come Cicada chirps. |
When at a mountain retreat, on hearing the chirping of the evening cicadas.
葉をしげみゝやまのかげやまがふらむあくるもしらぬひぐらしの聲
| Fa wo sigemi miyama no kage ya magaFuramu akuru mo siranu Figurasi no kowe |
Do the leaves in such profusion in The mountains cast their shade that Confused, perhaps, and Unknowing of the dawn, The evening cicadas chirp on? |
寒いぞよ軒の蜩唐がらし
| samui zo yo noki no higurashi kara garashi |
How cold it is! Underneath the eaves, a cicada Rasps away. |
From a hundred poem sequence.
ゆふだちの雲もとまらぬ夏の日のかたぶく山にひぐらしのこゑ
| yūdachi no kumo mo tomaranu natsu no hi no katabuku yama ni higurashi no koe |
Shower-filled clouds Have passed by, unstopping; The summer sun Inclines towards the mountains Where the cicadas sing. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王