A poem composed on picking a katakuri bloom.
もののふの八十娘子らが汲み乱ふ寺井の上の堅香子の花
mononopu no
yaso wotomera ga
kumimagapu
terawi no upe no
katakago no pana |
An array,
A multitude of maidens
Scooping
Water from the temple wellhead;
A bunch of lilies! |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi
大伴家持
Left (Tie).
さぞなげく戀をするがの字津の山うつゝの夢のまたしみえねば
sazo nageku
koi o suruga no
utsu no yama
utsutsu no yume no
mata shi mieneba |
Grieving as he
In love by Suruga’s
Utsu Mountain,
When reality is but a dream
I never will see more. |
145
Right (Tie).
はまゆふやかさなる山の幾重ともいさしら雲のそこの面影
hamayū ya
kasanaru yama no
ikue tomo
isa shirakumo no
soko no omokage |
How many lily leaves of
Overlapping mountain
Folds I have crossed
I know not, yet on the distant clouds’
Surface do I still see her face. |
146
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. |
Left (Win).
蘆の屋のかりねの床のふしのまにみじかく明る夏の夜な夜な
ashi no ya no
karine no toko no
fushi no ma ni
mijikaku akuru
natsu no yonayona |
Out cutting reeds,
Upon a fleeting bed
I lie; between one reed-knot and another,
So brief comes the dawn
Each passing night in summer. |
39
Right
うちなびくしげみが下のさゆり葉のしられぬほどにかよふ秋風
uchinabiku
shigemi ga shita no
sayuriba no
shirarenu hodo ni
kayou akikaze |
Aflutter
Beneath the growth
Lilies,
Unknown to all,
Are passed by an autumn breeze. |
40
'Simply moving and elegant'