Left
こひこひてただにややまむなつむしのおもひのほかにみをやすててむ
koikoite tada ni ya yamamu natsumushi no omoi no hoka ni mi o ya sutetemu | So much in love— Will it ever all be over? As a firefly In sudden fires of passion Should I abandon all restraint? |
7
Right
たれによりひとつおもひにみをすててことしもなつのむしとなりしぞ
tare ni yori hitotsu omoi ni mi o sutete kotoshi mo natsu no mushi to narishi zo | For whose sake is it I burn with singular passion? Abandoning all restraint This year, too, a fire Fly have I become! |
8
あきかぜにすむよもぎふのかれゆけばこゑのことごとむしぞなくなる
akikaze ni sumu yomogyū no kareyukeba koe no kotogoto mushi zo nakunaru | With the autumn wind, Their home, the mugwort, Begins to wither, so Every single Insect cries out. |
45
みるごとにあきにもあるかたつたひめもみぢそむとや山はきるらん[1]
miru goto ni aki ni mo aru ka tatsutahime momiji somu to ya yama wa kiruran | Each time I see her Is it autumn? Princess Tatsuta, I wonder, are she dying scarlet leaves, So that she may wear the mountains? |
46
[1] This poem occurs in Kokin rokujō (648); and also in Tomonori-shū (27), suggesting that it may be by Ki no Tomonori.
'Simply moving and elegant'