Sweet flags
五月雨に水まさるらしあやめぐさうれ葉かくれてかる人のなき
samidare ni
mizu masarurashi
ayamegusa
ureba kakurete
karu hito no naki | The summer rain has
Raised the waters high, it seems, for
The sweet flags’
Leaf tips are hidden, and
There’s no one to reap them. |
Composed when there was much disturbance in the world.
朝な朝な鹿の柵む萩がえの末葉の露のありがたのよや
asana asana
sika no sikaramu
Fagi ga e no
suweba no tuyu no
arigata no yo ya |
Every morning
The stag is tangled in
Bush clover branches,
Dew upon the leaf-tips –
Such is the length of life… |
Zōki
増基
思ひ草葉末に結ぶ白露のたまたまきてば手にもかからず
omoFigusa
Fazuwe ni musubu
siratuyu no
tamatama kiteba
te ni mo kakarazu |
The undergrowth’s
Leaf tips are tangled
With silver dewdrop
Gems on occasion, but
They touch not my hands… |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
'Simply moving and elegant'
