On the wind in the bamboo before the moon.
色かへぬ竹の葉しろく月さえてつもらぬ雪をはらふ秋かぜ
| iro kaenu take no ha shiroku tsuki saete tsumoranu yuki o harau akikaze | The evergreen Bamboo leave are white Beneath the chilly moon— Snow that never drifts With the brush of autumn breezes. |
Kunaikyō
Topic unknown.
我がやどのそともにたてるならのはのしげみにすずむ夏はきにけり
| wa ga yado no sotomo ni tateru nara no ha no shigemi ni suzumu natsu wa kinikeri | At my house, In the grounds behind stands An oak tree, leaves So lush that coolness To summer has come. |
Monk Egyō
When he was in service at an imperial progress to Ōi.
おほゐがは井せきのおとのなかりせばこのはをしけるわたりとやみん
| oFowigawa wiseki no oto no nakariseba ko no Fa wo sikeru watari wo ya min | Upon the River Ōi If the weirs sounded Not, then At the leaves spread All around would we even look? |
Master of the Palace Repairs Office Akisue
On the conception of hidden love, when he held a poetry match in one hundred rounds at his house, while he was Major Captain of the Left.
もらすなよ雲ゐるみねのはつしぐれ木葉は下にいろかはるとも
| morasu na yo kumo’iru mine no hatsushigure ko no ha wa shita ni iro kawaru tomo | O, don’t drip down, Peak-clinging clouds First shower! For under you the trees’ leaves Will yet change their hues…[i] |
The Regent and Grand Minister
[i] An allusive variation on KKS V: 260.
Left
つゆばかりたのみおかなんことのはにしばしもとまるいのちありやと
| tsuyu bakari tanomi okanan koto no ha ni shibashi mo tomaru inochi ari ya to | Dewdrop fragile Is my trust that dripping On the leaves, your words A little longer might hold My life here, perhaps… |
66
Right
はるさめのよにふるそらもおもほえずくもゐながらにひとこふるみは
| harusame no yo ni furu sora mo omohoezu kumoi nagara ni hito kouru mi wa | Spring showers Fall from night time skies—living on Is not for me, I think, for Beyond the clouds lies The one I love… |
67
Bamboo
Left
つゆもおけとなびくものからたけのはのいろうつろへるあきもみぬかな
| tsuyu mo oke to nabiku mono kara take no ha no iro utsuroeru aki mo minu kana | ‘Fall, O, dewdrops!’, I say, then Weighed down The bamboo leaves’ Hues fading I’ll see not this autumn! |
18
Asters
Right
あきののにいろなきつゆはおきしかどわかむらさきに花はそみけり
| aki no no ni iro naki tsuyu wa okishikado wakamurasaki ni hana wa somikeri | Upon the autumn meadows Colourless dew Has fallen, yet With pale violet Have the blooms been dyed. |
18
Kerria
Left
はなをらでわれぞややまふきのはなるつゆをたまにてけたじとおもへば
| hana orade ware zo ya yamau ki no ha naru tsuyu o tama nite ketaji to omoeba | Leave the blossom unplucked, and As it is, I will, that From the tree’s leaves The dewdrop gems Will not disappear, or so I wish… |
Sadafun
13
Right (Win)
いづこともわかずはるさめふりやまふきのはなべてももえにけるかな
| izuko to mo wakazu harusame furiyamau ki no ha nabete mo moenikeru kana | Everywhere Without exception, springtime showers Have ceased to fall, so All the leaves upon the trees Have budded! |
14
When a man who had come to see her around the Eighth Month left behind his fan, which was decorated with a picture of bamboo leaves spotted with dewdrops, after some time had passed, she returned it, with this.
しののめにおきてわかれし人よりはひさしくとまる竹の葉の露
| shinonome ni okite wakareshi hito yori wa hisashiku tomaru take no ha no tsuyu | At the break of dawn He rose and left— That man, but Much longer lingered Dewdrops on the bamboo leaves. |
Izumi Shikibu