The End of Autumn.
Left
琴の音に声よりあはせなく虫の秋のはつるはえこそしのばね
koto no ne ni
koe yori awase
naku mushi no
aki no hatsuru wa
e koso shinobane | A zither’s strains
Blended with the songs
The insects cry,
That autumn is ending
They truly cannot recall! |
19
Right
長月の菊にぞ人をたのみつる花ひらくとも心うつるな
nagatsuki no
kiku zo hito o
tanomitsuru
hana hiraku tomo
kokoro utsuru na | In the Longest Month
A chrysanthemum, in a man
Has placed its trust—
The bloom may open, yet
O, change not your heart! |
20
秋はぎのしたばの紅葉うつろひぬなが月のよの風のさむさに
akihagi no
shitaba no momiji
utsuroinu
nagatsuki no yo no
kaze no samusa ni | The autumn bush clover’s
Scarlet under-leaves
Have faded all away,
For on nights in the Longest Month
The wind is cold, indeed… |
On regretting the passage of autumn.
なが月の在明の月のつきずのみくる秋ごとにをしきけふかな
nagatsuki no
ariake no tsuki no
tsukizu nomi
kuru aki goto ni
oshiki kyō kana | In the Longest Month
Of the dawntime moon
I simply cannot get enough, so
With every autumn’s coming
Today fills me with regret! |
夜をさむみね覚めてきけばなが月の有明の月に衣うつなり
yo o samumi
nezamete kikeba
nagatsuki no
ariake no tsuki ni
koromo utsu nari | On a night so chill
On awakening, I hear,
In the Longest Month,
Beneath the dawning moon,
The sound of fulling clothes… |
Left
いづこにか秋はいくらん跡をだにとめてゆきせばたづねみてまし
izuko ni ka
aki wa ikuran
ato o dani
tomete yukiseba
tazune mitemashi | Where might it be that
Autumn goes?
Even a trace
Left behind would make me want to go, and
Make an enquiry, I feel. |
17
Right (Win)
おほかたの秋はをしめどかひもなしなのながづきをとどめてしがな
ōkata no
aki wa oshimedo
kai mo nashi
na no nagatsuki o
todomete shigana | In general,
I regret autumn’s passing, yet
How pointless that is:
In name alone does the Longest Month
Remain! |
18
Left
なが月はこしひよりこそをしまるれいまはかぎりの秋とおもへば
nagatsuki wa
koshi hi yori koso
oshimaru
ima wa kagiri no
aki to omoeba | The longest month’s[i]
Days have passed, indeed, so
How I regret the thought that
Now the bounds of
Autumn have been reached… |
5
Right (Win)
とふ人もなきものゆゑにあぢきなくいはんまもなくをしき秋かな
tou hito mo
naki mono yue ni
ajikinaku
iwan ma mo naku
oshiki aki kana | Visiting folk are
There none, so
In my tedium,
Needless to say,
How I regret the autumn! |
6
[i] Nagatsuki 長月 (‘longest month’) was an alternate name for the Ninth Month of the lunar calendar, which was the final month of the season of autumn.
Katsura 桂
なが月の月の光のさゆるかなかつらの枝にしもやおくらん
nagatsuki no
tsuki no hikari no
sayuru kana
katsura no eda ni
shimo ya okuran | In the longest month
The moonlight is
Chill, indeed!
Upon the branches of the silver trees
I wonder, does frost fall? |
Kanemasa
The Ninth Day of the Ninth Month
老いはてて露のしるしもなき身にはなほやをりてん長月の菊
oihatete
tsuyu no shirushi mo
nakimi ni wa
nao ya oriten
nagatsuki no kiku | Greatly aged,
The dew is a sign of
What is gone;
Should I yet pick
A chrysanthemum in the Ninth Month? |
Daishin
大進
The Ninth Day of the Ninth Month
なが月の九日までにふくみだるとをかのきくの花びらけなん
nagatsuki no
kokonuka made ni
fuku midaru
tōka no kiku no
hana birakenan | For the Ninth Month’s
Ninth day,
Its garb disarrayed
On the Tenth, the chrysanthemum
Does surely open up its blooms! |
Minamoto no Kanemasa
源兼昌
The Ninth Day of the Ninth Month
人のみな命はるかにになが月と聞くにつけてぞけふはうれしき
hito no mina
inochi haruka ni
nagatsuki to
kiku ni tsukete zo
kyō wa ureshiki | For each and everyone
That life should last long;
In the Ninth Month
With chrysanthemums,
Today is pleasant, indeed! |
Minamoto no Akinaka
源顕仲
'Simply moving and elegant'
