禊する瀬見の小川の清き瀬に君が齢を猶祈るかな
misogisuru
semi no wogaFa no
kiyoki se ni
kimi ga yoFaFi wo
naFo inoru kana |
In cleansing
Semi Stream’s
Pure rapids
For my Lord’s long life
I will ever pray! |
Minamoto no Shitagō
源順
祈事を聞かず洗ふる神だにも今日は夏越と人は知らなむ
negigoto wo
kikazu araFuru
kami dani mo
keFu Fa nagosi to
Fito Fa siranamu |
Prayers
Unheeding, and bathing
Are the gods themselves;
That this day is the summer purification
Do all folk know! |
Minamoto no Shitagō
源順
ほのぼのと明石の浜を見渡しば春の浪わけ出づる船の帆
Fonobono to
akasi no Fama wo
miwataseba
Faru no namiwake
iduru Fune no Fo |
In the gloaming
When across the beach at Akashi
I sweep my gaze,
Cutting through the springtime waves
Are the sails of departing boats. |
Minamoto no Shitagō
源順
When converting the Man’yōshū to Japanese.
涙河底のみくづとなりはてて恋しきせぜに流れこそすれ
namidagaFa
soko no mikudu to
nariFatete
koFisiki seze ni
nagare koso sure |
A river of tears:
As flotsam on the bed
Will I finally become, should
Love in rapids
Flow so much… |
Minamoto no Shitagō
When converting the Man’yōshū to Japanese.
思ふらむ心の内をしらぬ身はしぬばかりにもあらじとぞ思ふ
omoFuramu
kokoro no uti wo
siranu mi Fa
sinu bakari ni mo
arazi to zo omoFu |
I seem to feel
The secrets of your heart
I cannot know
So all that is left for me is to die
Is it not, I feel… |
Minamoto no Shitagō
For a poetry competition held in the Tenryaku era.
春ふかみゐてのかは浪たちかへり見てこそゆかめ山吹の花
Faru Fukami
wide no kaFanami
tatikaFeri
mite koso yukame
yamabuki no Fana |
In the depths of spring
Waves on the river at Idé
Rise and fall endlessly;
Thus would I go and see
The kerria blooms… |
Minamoto no Shitagō
Composed for a folding screen in the residence of Nishinomiya Minister of the Left [Minamoto no Taka’akira (914-983)], to accompany an image of a group of women in travelling clothes among the autumn leaves on the path across the Shiga Mountains.
名を聞けば昔ながらの山なれどしぐるる秋は色まさりけり
na wo kikeba
mukasi nagara no
yama naredo
sigururu aki Fa
iro masarikeri |
When I hear its name,
Long ago as now
This mountain is, yet
In the autumn drizzle
Are its colours supreme! |
Minamoto no Shitagō (911-983)
源順
For the farewell feast, when Kanemori was sent to Suruga as Governor.
別地は渡せる橋もなき物をいかでか常に戀ひ渡べき
wakaredi Fa
wataseru Fasi mo
naki mono wo
ikadeka tune ni
koFi watarubeki |
Your parting path:
Spanned by bridges,
Now gone, so
How, as ever,
Should we send you our love? |
Minamoto no Shitagō
From a folding screen in the palace of His Majesty, former Emperor En’yū (959-991; r. 969-984).

murasaki no
Fudi saku matu no
kozuwe ni Fa
moto no midori mo
miezu zo arikeru |
The violet
Wisteria blooms upon the pine’s
Treetops:
The green beneath
Has quite vanished. |
Minamoto no Shitagō
'Simply moving and elegant'