Mandarin Ducks 鴛鴦
山河にともなきをしはかげをみてひとつがひある心ちすらしも
yamakawa ni
tomonaki oshi wa
kage o mite
hitotsugai aru
kokochi sura shimo | In a mountain stream
A mateless mandarin does
See a shape and
A pair
Even he feels himself to be! |
Kanemasa
Kindling 薪
折りくぶる柴さまざまにみゆれどもけぶりはひとつ色にこそたて
orikuburu
shiba samazama ni
miyuredomo
keburi wa hitotsu
iro ni koso tate | Broken for kindling,
The brushwood in many shapes
Does appear, yet
The smoke in but one
Shade does rise. |
Kanemasa
Gosechi 五節
もろ人のあそぶなるかな乙女子がかざみのすそのながき夜すがら
morobito no
asobunaru kana
otomego ga
kazami no suso no
nagaki yosugara | Crowds of folk do
Enjoy themselves!
The maiden’s
Robes’ trains are
As long as night… |
Kanemasa
First Snow 初雪
はつみ雪ふりにけらしなあらち山こしのたび人そりにのるまで
hatsumiyuki
furinikerashi na
arachiyama
koshi no tabibito
sori ni noru made | The first deep snows
Have fallen, it seems, so
Upon Arachi Mountain
The traversing traveller
Must ride upon a sleigh! |
Kanemasa
Crickets 蛬
秋の野にやどりをすればきりぎりすかたしく袖の下に鳴くなり
aki no no ni
yadori o sureba
kirigirisu
katashiku sode no
shita ni nakunari | When on the plains in autumn
I make my lodging
The crickets
From beneath my single spread sleeve
Do cry. |
Kanemasa
Bell Crickets 鈴虫
みかり野になくすず虫をはしたかの草とりて行く音かとぞきく
mikarino ni
naku suzumushi o
hashitaka no
kusa toriteyuku
oto ka to zo kiku | On the imperial hunting ground
Sing the bell crickets, and
A sparrowhawk, swooping
To hunt among the grasses –
Is that the sound I hear? |
Kanemasa
Pine Crickets 松虫
夕されば荻の下葉やくらからん月まつ虫の声きこゆなり
yū sareba
ogi no shitaba ya
kurakaran
tsuki matsumushi no
koe kikoyunari | When the evening comes
Do the under-leaves of silver-grass
Seem shadowed?
Pining for the moon, the crickets’
Cries I hear. |
Kanemasa
Autumn Mountains 秋山
いそぐたびうしとは人に見えつらん月待ちいづる秋の山のは
isogu tabi
ushi to wa hito ni
mietsuran
tsuki matchi’izuru
aki no yama no ha | On a hurried journey
How heartless to folk
Must appear,
Awaiting moonrise,
The mountains’ edge in autumn… |
Kanemasa
Scented Grasses 草香
秋の野の花分けゆけば草草の香うつりぬらん我が衣手に
aki no no no
hana wakeyukeba
kusagusa no
kō utsurinuran
wa ga koromode ni | When, in the autumn meadows,
I forge through the blooms
The grasses’
Scent does seem to shift
To my sleeves. |
Kanemasa
Reaped Rice Fields 稂田
いなしきやそともの小田にふす鴫のかくれぬばかりひつちおひにけり
inashiki ya
sotomo no oda ni
fusu shigi no
kakurenu bakari
hitsuchi oinikeri | Is rice-straw spread there for seating?
In the paddies on the northern slopes
Rest snipe
Unable to hide at all among
The covering of stubble. |
Kanemasa
'Simply moving and elegant'