Lacking a Glimpse of Love Letters 不見書恋
ふみつくる跡も見えねば浜千鳥たちゐるそらもかひなかりけり
fumi tsukuru
ato mo mieneba
hama chidori
tachi’iru sora mo
kainakarikeri | Of letter writing, too,
I see not a sign;
The plovers on beach
Take wing into the skies, just
As pointlessly. |
Daishin
Lacking a Glimpse of Love Letters 不見書恋
あふことのとだえがちにもなりゆくかふみだにかよへまののつぎはし
au koto no
todaegachi ni mo
nariyuku ka
fumi dani kayoe
mano no tsugihashi | Will our meetings
Intermittent tend
To become?
Let us just letters exchange,
Across Mano’s many pillared bridge! |
Higo
Lacking a Glimpse of Love Letters 不見書恋
わぎもこがあふみなりせばさりと我ふみもみてましとどろきのはし
wagimoko ga
au mi nariseba
sari to ware
fumi mo mitemashi
todoroki no hashi | If my darling
Were convinced to meet,
Then, I
Would wish to see her letters, too,
Here upon the bridge at Todoroki. |
Kanemasa
Lacking a Glimpse of Love Letters 不見書恋
いかがせむさののふなばしさのみやはふみだにみじと人のいふべき
ikaga semu
sano no funabashi
sanomi ya wa
fumi dani miji to
hito no iubeki | O, what am I to do
At the pontoon bridge of Sano?
Simply, of
Letters there seems to be no sign, is
What folk can tell to me. |
Tadafusa
Lacking a Glimpse of Love Letters 不見書恋
いさや又ふみもみられずともすればとだえのはしのうしろめたさを
isa ya mata
fumi mo mirarezu
tomo sureba
todae no hashi no
ushirometasa o | So, still
I’ve not had a note from you, and
As ever, as
An unfinished bridge
I hang on, filled with regret… |
Toshiyori
Lacking a Glimpse of Love Letters 不見書恋
かづらきやくめの岩ばしふみみねどわたりがたしと空にしりつつ
kazuragi ya
kume no iwabashi
fumi minedo
watarigatashi to
sora shiritsutsu | At Kazuragi stands
Kume’s broken stony bridge:
No sight of letters from you, yet
How hard it is to cross – that
The skies do ever know… |
Nakazane
Lacking a Glimpse of Love Letters 不見書恋
おぼつかなきそぢのはしは年ふれどかけてぞ我はふみみざりける
obotsukana
kisoji no hashi wa
toshi furedo
kakete zo ware wa
fumi mizarikeru | How strange it is!
The bridge upon the road to Kiso has
Many years upon it, yet
Crossing it I
See not a single note… |
Akinaka
'Simply moving and elegant'