A poem by Prince Yuge.
霍公鳥なかる国にも行きてしかその鳴く声を聞けば苦しも
pototogisu
nakaru kuni ni mo
yukitesika
sono naku kowe wo
kikeba kurusi mo |
Where the cuckoo
Is not – that is the land where
I would go!
For the sound of his song
Within my ears brings only pain… |
弓削皇子
夏の夜の臥すかとすれば時鳥鳴く一声に明くる東雲
natu no yo no
Fusu ka to sureba
Fototogisu
naku Fito kowe ni
akuru sinonome |
On a summer night
I am just about to take to bed, when,
A cuckoo calls, and
With a single song
Light comes to the eastern sky. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
Left (Tie).
聞き馴れてきては心も慰まず聲の通ふは甲斐無かりけり
kikinarete
kite wa kokoro mo
nagusamazu
koe no kayou wa
kai nakarikeri |
Familiar to the ear
It comes, but my heart
Has no consolation;
The interplay of voices is
Pointless, indeed. |
Lord Ari’ie
877
Right.
睦言の通はぬ中と成ぬれば聲は聞けども甲斐無かりけり
mutsugoto no
kayowanu naka to
narinureba
koe wa kikedomo
kai nakarikeri |
Sweet words do we
Exchange
No more, so
Even if I hear your voice, it is
Pointless, indeed. |
Lord Tsune’ie
878
Left and Right both state: no faults.
In judgement: the conception of both poems ‘interplay of voices’ (koe kayou), is of the same quality.
秋山のしたひが下に鳴く鳥の声だに聞かば何か嘆かむ
akiyama no
sitapi ga sita ni
naku tori no
kowe dani kikaba
nani ka nagekamu |
In the autumn moutains
Beneath the turning leaves
A crying bird’s
Song: hearing only that,
What call is there for grief? |
Anonymous
A poem to lament that his feelings of sadness were proving impossible to abate as the time of his return to the capital grew near.
我が背子は玉にもがもな霍公鳥声にあへ貫き手に巻きて行かむ
wa ga seko pa
tama ni mogamona
pototogisu
kowe ni apenuki
te ni makite yukamu |
You, my friend, are
As a jewel;
On a cuckoo’s
Call would I thread you, and
Go clasping you in hand… |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi
The above poem was presented by Ōtomo sukune Yakamochi to Secretary Ōtomo sukune Ikenushi. 30th day of the Fourth Month.
Cicadas (蟬)
夏山のならのひろ葉にかくろへてこのもかのもに鳴く蟬のこゑ
natsuyama no
nara no hiroha ni
kakuroete
konomo kanomo ni
naku semi no koe | In the summer mountains
In the broad-leaved oaks
Concealed,
From here and from there
Are the cries of singing cicadas. |
Kanemasa
Composed in the conception of hearing stags while staying overnight at a port.
湊川夜ふねこぎいづる追風に鹿の声さへ瀬戸わたるなり
minatogaFa
yobune kogi’iduru
oFikaze ni
sika no kowe saFe
seto watarunari |
At Minato River
The night boats row out
Carried on the wind
Do even the stags’ cries
Carry across the straits? |
Dōin (1090-1182)
道因
穂にも出でぬ角田の稲葉うち靡きくるればかよふ秋風の声
ho ni mo idenu
kadoda no inaba
uchinabiki
kurureba kayou
akikaze no koe |
The ears have sprouted
In the paddies of Kadoda
Fluttering
Back and forth at dusk
With the whispers of the Autumn wind. |
Ietaka
家隆
白浪の越すかとのみぞ聞えける末の松山松風の声
shiranami no
kosu ka to nomi zo
kikoekeru
sue no matsuyama
matsukaze no koe |
“Will the white waves
Break above you?” is all
I can hear
At Sue-no-Matsuyama
In the wind whispering in the pines. |
Nōin
能因
'Simply moving and elegant'