By His Majesty, Retired Emperor Suzaku (923-952; r. 930-946), on seeing that Senior Grand Empress [Shoshi (950-1000)] was still an infant:
呉竹の我が世は異に成ぬとも音は絶えせずも泣かるべき哉
| kuretake no wa ga yo Fa koto ni narinu to mo ne Fa taezu mo nakarubeki kana |
As bamboo from Cathay, I shall slip the knot; But though I be gone, Eternally sobs I shall weep for you, I feel. |
Emperor Suzaku
Sent to Ise, in condolence for the loss of her child.
思ふより言ふは疎かに成ぬればたとへて言はん事の葉ぞなき
| omoFu yori iFu Fa oroka ni narinureba tatoFete iFan koto no Fa zo naki |
Beside my feelings Speech pales And so To say how I feel for you I have no words at all. |
Her reply:
かなしさのなぐさむべくもあらざりつ夢のうちにも夢と見ゆれば
| kanasisa no nagusamubeku mo arazaritu yume no uti ni mo yume to miyureba |
My grief Can be consoled By nothing For even in my dreams I know that’s all they are. |
Someone died and she missed him constantly; when she went to sleep thinking of him she dreamed of him and sent this poem to someone else thinking of him.
時の閒もなぐさめつらん覺めぬ閒は夢にだに見ぬ我ぞ悲しき
| toki no ma mo nagusameturan samenu ma Fa yume ni dani minu ware zo kanasiki |
For only a moment Was I consoled When I closed my eyes; Unable to meet in him in dreams I am sunk in sadness. |
The Daughter of Lord [Fujiwara no] Harukami
When someone came from the Eastlands with a horse for him, not having heard that Atsutoshi had died.
まだ知らぬ人も有りける東路に我も行てぞ住むべかりける
| mada siranu Fito mo arikeru adumadi ni ware mo yukite zo sumubekarikeru |
As yet unaware Folk there are; On the eastland roads I must make my way And find a home. |
The Minister of the Left, [Fujiwara no Saneyori (900-970)]
Composed when he was ill and growing weaker.
つひにゆくみちとはかねてききしかどきのふけふとはおもはざりしを
| tuFi ni yuku miti to Fa kanete kikisikado kinoFu keFu to Fa omoFazarisi wo |
In the end, we all set foot Upon the path-many times before I have heard tell, yet That it should come upon me now- I never did believe. |
Ariwara no Narihira
有原業平
Upon being asked by Prince Koretaka for the poems which his father had composed while he was alive, Tomonori wrote them out and sent them, composing this poem and putting it at the end.
ことならば事のはさへもきえななむ見れば涙のたぎまさりけり
| koto naraba koto no Fa saFe mo kienanamu mireba namida no tagi masarikeri |
If it’s all the same I wish that even his words Would vanish away, For at the sight of them my tears Fall in cataracts. |
Tomonori
友則
After the death of the Kawara Minister of the Left (Minamoto no Tōru), Tsurayuki went to his house and, seeing a recreation of a place called Shiogama, he composed this:
君まさで煙たえにししほがまの浦さびしくも見え渡るかな
| kimi masade keburi taenisi siFogama no ura sabisiku mo miewataru kana |
You are gone As has the smoke From Shiogama; How lonely the shore now When I gaze across it. |
Tsurayuki
貫之