In reply:
をきそふるつゆとゝもにはきえもせでなみだにのみもうきしづむかな
| okisouru tsuyu to tomo ni wa kie mo sede namida ni nomi mo ukishizumu kana |
Fast falling Dewdrops: with them I cannot vanish, so Beneath my tears alone, I am sunk in grief. |
Anonymous
Tag Archives: Laments
SKKS VIII: 780
Sent to someone who had lost a little child.
わかれけんなごりの袖もかはかぬにをきやそふらん秋のゆふつゆ
| wakareken nagori no sode mo kawakanu ni oki ya souran aki no yû tsuyu |
Did I hear that you were parted? Tracks upon your sleeves Undrying, yet Will they fall still harder, I wonder, These dewdrops of an autumn evening… |
Daini no Sanmi
大弐三位
SKKS VIII: 779
At a time when the Lady Jōtōmon’in [Fujiwara no Shōshi] was Empress, on the day His Majesty took Holy Orders when suffering from an unprecedented illness, he sent this to her:
秋風のつゆのやどりに君をゝきてちりをいでぬることぞかなしき
| aki kaze no tsuyu no yadori ni kimi o okite chiri o idenuru koto zo kanashiki |
With the autumn wind Upon this house of dew wherein I leave you; To have set forth into dust Is a grief, indeed… |
Retired Emperor Ichijō (986-1011; r. 980-1011)
SKKS VIII: 805
After Major Captain of the Right [Fujiwara no] Michifusa (1025-1044) had died, she saw a fan which he had used for writing practice and composed:
てすさびのはかなきあとゝ見しかども長かたみになりにけるかな
| tesusabi no hakanaki ato to mishikadomo nagakatami ni narinikeru kana |
As a desultory, Fleeting remnant Did I see it, yet Forever my keepsake Has it become… |
The Daughter of the Tsuchimikado Minister of the Right
SKKS VIII: 800
At a time when the world was particularly fleeting, and many people had died, Middle Captain [Minamoto no] Nobukata (?-998) passed away and, at around the Tenth Month, on going to his house in Shirakawa, he saw a single autumn leaf remaining.
けふこずはみでやゝまゝし山ざとのもみぢも人もつねならぬよに
| kyô kozu wa mide ya yamamashi yamazato no momiji mo hito mo tsune naranu yo ni |
Had I not come today, I wonder, unseen, would it have reached its end? A mountain dwelling’s Scarlet leaf and a man, for both This is a fleeting world. |
Former Major Councillor Kintō (966-1041)
藤原公任
SKKS VIII: 778
Upon meeting with Imperial Princess Shishi of the First Order (955-1015), they talked of times past and she composed:
袖にさへ秋のゆふべはしられけりきえしあさぢがつゆをかけつゝ
| sode ni sae aki no yûbe wa shirarekeri kieshi asaji ga tsuyu wo kaketsutsu |
Even upon our sleeves Does the autumn evening Reveal itself; The thatch, now gone, Is ever dew-drenched. |
Imperial Consort, Princess Kishi (929-985)
SKKS VIII: 774
SKKS VIII: 773
At about the time his wife died, the wife of Lord Fujiwara no Tameyori passed away, so he sent him this.
よそなれどおなじ心ぞかよふべきたれも思ひのひとつならねば
| yoso naredo onaji kokoro zo kayoubeki tare mo omoi no hitotsu naraneba |
I am no relation, yet How similar our griefs Must be; For no other’s feelings Match them… |
The Ononomiya Minister of the Right [Fujiwara no Sanesuke (957-1046)]
SKKS VIII: 768
After the death of the Rokujō Regent [Fujiwara no Motozane (1143-1166)], one of his ladies picked one of the peonies he had planted and sent it to Shige’ie:
かたみとて見ればなげきのふかみ草なに中なかのにほひなるらん
| katami tote mireba nageki no fukamigusa nani naka naka no nioinaruran |
‘In memory of him,’ I think; At the sight my grief Grows deeper, o, peony, Why so rich Your glowing hues? |
Senior Assistant Governer General of the Dazaifu [Fujiwara no] Shige’ie (1128-1180)
SKKS VIII: 763
A certain person planted some cherry trees and then died in the Fourth Month of that year; on seeing them blooming for the first time the following year:
花見んとうへけん人もなきやどのさくらはこぞの春ぞさかまし
| hana min to ueken hito mo naki yado no sakura wa kozo no haru zo sakamashi |
To see the blossoms, Planting, you From home are gone; Had the cherries come last Spring, oh, how much better… |
Ōe no Yoshitoki (d.?1010)