Scarlet lotus flowers floating on marsh water (緑沼紅蓮浮)
Left (Win)
みどりぬにうきたるはちすくれなゐにみづにごるなり波たつなゆめ
midorinu ni
ukitaru hatisu
kurenawi ni
midu nigorunari
nami tatu na yume | Upon the green marsh
Floats a lotus
Its scarlet
Stains the waters –
O, rise not, you waves! |
6
Right
紅のはちすうきたるみどりぬにしら波たてばこきまぜの花
kurenawi no
Fatisu ukitaru
midorinu ni
siranami tateba
kokimaze no Fana | Scarlet,
The lotus floats upon
The green marsh, but
When the whitecaps rise
All jumbled will the flowers be… |
7[1]
[1]These poems are included in Fubokushō (XXIV: 11386) and (XXIV: 11387).
New Year’s Eve.
よしの川ながれて過ぐる年浪の立ゐのかげもくれにけるかな
yoshino gawa
nagarete suguru
toshinami no
tachi’i no kage mo
kurenikeru kana | The River Yoshino
Flows on past while
The year’s waves
Rise and fall
Fading into shadow! |
Ōe no Masafusa
Flutes 笛
波の音にたぐへてぞ聞く住の江の汀にて吹くこま笛の声
nami no oto
taguete zo kiku
suminoe no
migiwa nite fuku
komabue no koe | The sound of waves
Blended, do I hear,
At Suminoe
By the water’s edge, with
The notes of a foreign flute. |
Kanemasa
Boats 船
おそろしやともへはしりそ波間行くあかしを舟のあからめなせそ
osoroshi ya
tomoe hashiri so
namima yuku
akashi o fune no
akarame na se so | O, how frightening!
Bows and sterns, don’t race so
Between the breakers go
The lights – so from the boats
Take not your wayward gaze! |
Akinaka
Seafolk 泉郎
黒うしがたこぎいづるあまのとも舟は鱸つるにや波まわくらん
kuro’ushi gata
kogi’izuru ama no
tomobune wa
suzuki tsuru ni ya
namima wakuran | From Kuro’ushi Inlet
Row out the fisherfolk,
All in boats together—
I wonder, will they fish for seabass
Forging between the breakers? |
Akinaka
Old Folk 老人
いやましにひたひのなみはかくれどもきえてもとしのゆきつもるかな
iyamashi ni
hitai no nami wa
kakuredomo
kiete mo toshi no
yuki tsumoru kana | More and more
The waves upon my forehead
Do I seek to hide, yet
Though they vanish, the years
In drifts of snow appear! |
Akinaka
Cathay Folk 唐人
たつなみにつづみの声をうちそへてから人よせくおきの島守
tatsu nami ni
tsuzumi no koe o
uchisoete
karabito yoseku
oki no shimamori | With the breaking waves
Drumming roar
For company
Cathay folk draw near to
The warder of the isles offshore. |
Akinaka
Waterweed 萍
池のおもにうゑぬにおふるうき草はなみやよるよる種をまきけん
ike no omo ni
uenu ni ouru
ukikusa wa
nami ya yoruyoru
tane o makiken | Upon the surface of the pond,
Not planted but growing are
The waterweeds –
Do the waves, washing back and forth
Sow their seeds, perhaps? |
Tadafusa
Ponds 池
世にわびて波たちまちにすぐなれどあその御池にぬさたてまつる
yo ni wabite
nami tachimachi ni
sugu naredo
aso no mi’ike ni
nusa tatematsuru | All the world’s troubles
In sudden waves
Arise, yet
At the fair pond of Aso
Will I make an offering… |
Toshiyori
Lakes 水海
色色のそでもかはるかからころもうちでの浜の波なきよせそ
iroiro no
sode mo kawaru
karakoromo
uchide no hama no
nami na kiyose so | Many hues
Do take on the sleeves
Of my Cathay robe;
Upon the beach where I set forth
Break not so fiercely, o waves! |
Kanemasa
'Simply moving and elegant'