A poem by Lady Ōtomo of Sakanoue.
霍公鳥いたくな鳴きそひとり居て寐の寝らえぬに聞けば苦しも
pototogisu
itaku na naki so
pitori wite
i no neraenu ni
kikeba kanasi mo |
O, cuckoo,
Sing not so much!
For I am alone, and
Sleep eludes me,
So hearing you brings only grief… |
Topic unknown.
潮みてば入ぬる磯の草なれや見らく少く戀ふらくの多き
siFo miteba
irinuru iso no
kusa nare ya
miraku sukunaku
koFuraku no oFoki |
When the tide is high
Flooding the rocky shore,
As the seaweed is he?
Seldom glimpsed, but
Much desired! |
Lady Ōtomo of Sakanoue
坂上郎女
An envoy:
かくばかり戀しくあらば眞澄鏡見ぬ日時なくあらましものを
kaku bakari
kopisiku araba
masokagami
minu pi toki naku
aramasi mono wo |
So much
Do I love you, that when
In a clear glass
I see not your face, endlessly
Would I be with you. |
Sent by Lady Ōtomo of Sakanoue to her daughter, the Elder Maiden.
A poem by Lady Ōtomo of Sakanoue.
夏の野の繁みに咲ける姫百合の知らえぬ戀は苦しきものそ
natu no no no
sigemi ni sakeru
pimeyuri no
siraenu kopi pa
kurusiki mono so |
As the fields in summer,
Awash with blooming
Scarlet lilies, is
Love unknown and unrequited,
A bitter thing, indeed. |
心ぐきものにぞありける春霞たなびく時に戀の繁きは
kökörö guki
monö ni zö arikeru
parugasumi
tanabiku töki ni
kopï nö sigëki pa |
A pain upon my heart
It is
When spring haze
Streams
Around my verdant love. |
海山も隔たらなくに何しかも目言をだにもここだ乏しき
umiyama mo
pedataranaku ni
nani sikamo
mekötö wo dani mo
kököda tömosiki |
Sea-girt peaks
Stand not in our way, so
Why should it be
That a glimpse and a word alone
Should come so rarely? |
靑山を橫ぎる雲のいちしろく我れと笑まして人に知らゆな
awoyama wo
yökögiru kumo nö
itisiroku
ware tö wemasite
pitö ni sirayu na |
A blue mountain
With drifting cloud,
How plainly
You do smile at me;
Let not others see! |
うつくしと我が思ふ心速川の塞きに塞くともなほや崩えなむ
urupasi tö
a ga omopu kökörö
payakapa nö
seki ni seku tömo
napo ya kuenamu |
How fine you are!
So thinks my heart
In a rushing torrent
And though I dam it up,
Soon, ’tis sure to burst. |
このころは千年や行きも過ぎぬると我れやしか思ふ見まく欲りかも
könö körö pa
titose ya yuki mo
suginuru tö
ware ya sika omopu
mimaku pori ka mo |
Recently
A thousand years or more
Had passed –
Or so I thought;
Perhaps because I long to see you. |
人言を繁みか君が二鞘の家を隔てて戀ひつつまさむ
pitögötö wo
sigëmi ka kimi ga
puta saya nö
ipe wo pedatete
kopitutu masamu |
Is it people’s talk
So lush – that you,
The twin-scabbard
Of your house a hindrance,
Must yearn for me? |
'Simply moving and elegant'