Composed when people were instructed to compose love poems at the residence of Lord Akisue.
あふと見てうつつのかひはなけれどもはかなき夢ぞいのちなりける
| aFu to mite ututu no kaFi Fa nakeredomo Fakanaki yume zo inoti narikeru | Glimpsing a meeting Upon this reality has no effect At all, yet A brief dream Is my whole life. |
Lord Fujiwara no Akisuke
Composed when he had lost his office.
ありはてぬいのちまつまの程ばかりうきことしげくおもはずもがな
| ariFatenu inoti matu ma no Fodo bakari uki koto sigeku omoFazu mogana | To reach the very end of Life—awaiting that I spend my time, but simply Upon its flourishing cruelties I wish I did not have to dwell! |
Taira no Sadafun
Composed on the conception of unmet love with varying emotions, when he was ordered to produce a hundred poem sequence.
ながらへてかはるこころをみるよりはあふにいのちをかへてましかば
| nagaraFete kaFaru kokoro wo miru yori Fa aFu ni inoti wo kaFetemashi ka ba | To live on and Your inconstant heart See—I’d rather For a meeting my life Exchange… |
The Regent and Minister of the Right
Left
かぎりなきおもひのほかになつむしのまどふをひとのうへとこそ見れ
| kagiri naki omoi no hoka ni natsumushi no madou o hito no ue to koso mire | Endlessly In sudden flames of passion are Fireflies Lost—upon Her do I see them! |
15
Right
ただひとつおもひをだにもなつむしのいのちをすててたのむなるかな
| tada hitotsu omoi o dani mo natsumushi no inochi o sutete tanomu naru kana | With but a single Passion’s flame, even A firefly Abandon’s his life— On that you can rely! |
16
Left
つゆばかりたのみおかなんことのはにしばしもとまるいのちありやと
| tsuyu bakari tanomi okanan koto no ha ni shibashi mo tomaru inochi ari ya to | Dewdrop fragile Is my trust that dripping On the leaves, your words A little longer might hold My life here, perhaps… |
66
Right
はるさめのよにふるそらもおもほえずくもゐながらにひとこふるみは
| harusame no yo ni furu sora mo omohoezu kumoi nagara ni hito kouru mi wa | Spring showers Fall from night time skies—living on Is not for me, I think, for Beyond the clouds lies The one I love… |
67
When Minamoto no Sane left her, saying that he was going to take a hot spring cure in Tsukushi, she composed this at Yamazaki, regretting their parting.
いのちだに心にかなふ物ならばなにか別のかなしからまし
| inoti wo dani kokoro ni kanaFu mono naraba nani ka wakare no kanasikaramasi | If life at least As we wished Would go Why, then, should parting Seem so sad? |
Shirome
Left
かりそめのみやたのまれぬ夏の日をなど空蝉のなきくらしつる
| karisome no mi ya tanomarenu natsu no hi o nado utsusemi no nakikurashitsuru | Is my transient Flesh untrustworthy? On a summer day Why does the cicada, an empty shell, Cry the day away? |
47[1]
Right
はかもなき夏のくさ葉におく露を命とたのむ虫のはかなさ
| haka mo naki natsu no kusaba ni oku tsuyu o inochi to tanomu mushi no hakanasa | Fleetingly Upon the blades of summer grass Falls the dew— A lifetime, I expect, for The short-lived insects. |
48
[1] A minor variant of this poem, with a headnote associating it with this contest, occurs in Shokugosenshū (XVI: 1058): かりそめの世やたのまれぬ夏の日をなどうつせみのなきくらしつる karisome no / yo ya tanomarenu / natsu no hi o / nado utsusemi no / nakikurashitsuru ‘Is this transient / World untrustworthy? / On a summer day / Why does the cicada, an empty shell, / Cry the day away?’
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
しぬる命いきもやすると心みに玉のをばかりあはむといはなむ
| sinuru inoti iki mo ya suru to kokoromi ni tama no wo bakari aFamu to iFanamu | I have died for love of you, but Might life return? Try, if only as A fragile jewelled thread, and Say that you will meet with me! |
Fujiwara no Okikaze