Left (Tie)
ふるさとにかすみとびわけゆくかりはたびのそらにやはるをすぐらむ
furusato ni
kasumi tobiwake
yuku kari wa
tabi no sora ni ya
haru o suguramu | Above an ancient estate
Flying through the parting haze
Go the geese:
In the skies they journey through,
I wonder, will they pass the springtime? |
Mitsune
19
Right
ちるはなをぬきしとめねばあをやぎのいとはよるともかひやなからむ
chiru hana o
nukishi tomeneba
aoyagi no
ito wa yoru tomo
kai ya nakaramu | The scattered blossom
Has been pierced, but not stayed, so,
The green willow’s
Threaded fronds are spun together, yet
It useless seems… |
20
‘“Sewn but not halted”—it really does seem so.’
Azaleas
Left
かりがねにおもひかけつつしのばなんあまつそらなるわが身なりとも
kari ga ne ni
omoikaketsutsu
shinobanan
ama tsu sora naru
wa ga mi naritomo | Upon the goose cries
Ever hang your thoughts, and
Remember, that
Within the sky-spanning heavens
I may yet be… |
Sadafun
15
Right
うぐひすのこゑなつかしくなきつるはのちもこひつつしのばなむとか
uguisu no
koe natsukashiku
nakitsuru wa
nochi mo koitsutsu
shinobanamu to ka | Does the warbler’s
Song so charmingly
Ring out that
Later, ever fondly
Will he be remembered? |
16
Topic unknown.
はれそむるみねのあさぎりひまみえて山の端わたるかりの一つら
haresomuru
mine no asagiri
hima miete
yama no ha wataru
kari no hitotsura | Beginning to clear
Are the morning mists from round the peak
And through the gaps appear
Crossing the mountains’ edge
A single line of geese. |
Fujiwara no Yorikiyo
A spring poem, from the Shōji Hundred Poem Sequences.
水茎の跡もとまらず見ゆるかな浪と雲とにかへる雁がね
mizukuki no
ato mo tomarazu
miyuru kana
nami to kumo to ni
kaeru kari ga ne | Faint traceries on the water
Leave no sign,
It seems!
Waves and clouds together with
A returning goose’s cry. |
Jakuren
Left
雁がねにおどろく秋のよを寒み虫のおりだす衣をぞきる
kari ga ne ni
odoroku aki no
yo o samumi
mushi no oridasu
koromo o zo kiru | The goose cries are
Startling on an autumn
Night so chill
The insects’ woven
Robes I will put on! |
106[1]
Right
あき風はたがたむけとか紅葉ばをぬさにきりつつ吹きちらすらん
akikaze wa
ta ga tamuke to ka
momijiba o
nusa ni kiritsutsu
fukichirasuran | The autumn wind:
To whom does it make its offering
Of scarlet leaves?
Ever cutting them to streamers, and
Seeming to scatter them with its gusts… |
107
[1] Fubokushō XII: 4881
Left
雁がねは風をさむみやはたおりめくだまく音のきりきりとする
kari ga ne wa
kaze o samumi ya
hataorime
kuda maku oto no
kirikiri to suru | Is it the goose cries that
Chill the wind so?
The Weaver Maid
Shuttling the weft makes
A clattering sound. |
100
Right
うゑしとき花まちどほにありし菊うつろふ秋にあはんとやみし
ueshi toki
hana machidō ni
arishi kiku
utsurou aki ni
awamu to ya mishi | From planting time
Did I eagerly await
These chrysanthemums here:
That they would fade with autumn’s passing
Did I think it then… |
Ōe no Chisato
101[1]
[1] Kokinshū V: 271/Shinsen man’yōshū 351/Kokin rokujō VI: 3753
Left
雁のねは風にきほひてわたれどもわが待つ人のことづてぞなき
kari no ne wa
kaze ni kioite
wataredomo
wa ga matsu hito no
kotozute zo naki | The goose cries
Competing with the wind
Come across, yet
From the man I’m waiting for
There is no word at all… |
92
Right
大空をとりかへすとも見えなくにほしかとみゆる秋の草かな
ōzora o
torikaesu tomo
mienaku ni
hoshi ka to miyuru
aki no kusa kana | The heavens
Claimed back, they
Do not appear to be, yet
Somehow, they seem like stars:
These autumn grasses! |
93
Left
をみなへし匂へる野辺にやどりせばあやなくあだの名をやたちなん
ominaeshi
nioeru nobe ni
yadoriseba
ayanaku ada no
na o ya tachinan | A maidenflower
Shines in the meadows, and
Should I find lodging there,
Carelessly, would fickle
Rumour arise? |
Ono no Yoshiki
88
Right
秋風にさそはれ来つる雁がねの雲ゐはるかにけふぞ聞ゆる
akikaze ni
sasowarekitsuru
kari ga ne no
kumoi haruka ni
kyō zo kikoyuru | On the autumn breeze
Has come, inviting,
A goose’s cry
From among the distant clouds
Today I hear it. |
89
Left 梅のはなしるきかならでうつろはば雪降りやまぬ春とこそ見め
ume no hana
shiru ki ka narade
utsurowaba
yuki furiyamanu
haru to koso mime | Of the plum blossom
Is this tree not aware, so
If it fades
An endless snowfall
Will seem to mark this spring. |
5
Right
春の日に霞わけつつとぶ雁の見えみみえずみ雲がくれ行く
haru no hi ni
kasumi waketsutsu
tobu kari no
mie mi miezu mi
kumogakureyuku | The springtime sun
Keeps breaking through the haze, so
The geese, winging,
Appear and are lost to view
Vanishing within the clouds. |
6
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
雁がねにおどろく秋のよを寒み虫のおりだす衣をぞきる
kari ga ne ni
odoroku aki no
yo o samumi
mushi no oridasu
koromo o zo kiru | The goose cries are
Startling on an autumn
Night so chill
The insects’ woven
Robes I will put on! |
Anonymous
'Simply moving and elegant'