Tag Archives: namida

Horikawa-in enjo awase 18

うきながら人もつらしとしりぬればことわりなくも落つる涙か

ukinagara
hito mo tsurashi to
shirinureba
kotowarinaku mo
otsuru namida ka
‘Tis cruel, but, that
Folk are heartless,
I know too well, so
Does it make no sense for
My tears to fall?

Kai, from the Shijō Palace
35

In reply.

かりそめのたえまを待つや恨むべきことわりなきは涙なりけり

karisome no
taema o matsu ya
uramubeki
kotowarinaki wa
namida narikeri
A temporary
Respite are you awaiting—
Should you hate that?
What makes no sense
Are your tears…

The Supernumerary Master of the Left Capital Office
36

Kanpyō no ōntoki chūgū uta’awase 15

Round Fifteen

Left

逢ふ事のかたきしなれば白波の立ちよる数はわれのみぞしる

au koto no
katakishi nareba
shiranami no
tachiyoru kazu wa
ware nomi zo shiru
Meeting you is
A distant cliff, so
The whitecaps’
Numbers breaking there
I alone do know.

28

Right

佗びぬればしひてわすれんとおもへども心よわくも落つるなみだか

wabinureba
shiite wasuren to
omoedomo
kokoro yowaku mo
otsuru namida ka
I suffer, so
I’ll make myself forget,
I think, yet
Is it my fragile heart that
Drips with tears?

29

Horikawa-in Enjo Awase 14

きてなれし袂は人に見せてましつらき涙の色のかはらば

kitenareshi
tamoto wa hito ni
misetemashi
tsuraki namida no
iro no kawaraba
I was wont to wear
These sleeves—to him
I would display them:
If heartless tears
Should change their hues…

Yurika, from the Hall of the Junior Consort
27

In reply.

忍草しのぶる程のよがれにはなにに心も袖もぬるらん

shinobugusa
shinoburu hodo no
yogare ni wa
nani ni kokoro mo
sode mo nururan
A fond fern
I do recall as
My nightly visits cease, so
Why is my heart and
Sleeves, too, so drenched?

The Assistant Lieutenant of the Middle Palace Guards, Left Division
28

Horikawa-in enjo awase 6

A further poem, from the same gentleman.

つらさには思ひ絶えなんとおもへどもかなはぬ物はなみだなりけり

tsurasa ni wa
omoi’oenan to
omoedomo
kanawanu mono wa
namida narikeri
Your cruelty
You might wish to cease,
I thought, yet
Entirely matchless are
My tears.

The Consultant
11

In reply.

うけひかぬあまの小船のつなで縄たゆとて何か苦しかるらん

ukehikanu
ama no obune no
tsunade nawa
tayu tote nanika
kurushikaruran
You’ll not draw in
A fisher-girl’s skiff with
A rope that’s
Snapped, I think, and what
Might be painful about that?

Higo, from the Palace
12

Horikawa-in enjo awase 5

おもひ侘び恋路にまよふしるべには涙ばかりぞさきに立ちける

omoiwabi
koiji ni mayou
shirube ni wa
namida bakari zo
saki ni tachikeru
Suffering with passion, and
Lost upon the paths of love
My guide is
Simply my tears that
Set out before me.

Consultant and Middle Captain Tadanori
9

The reply, written in a style to blend in with the picture on the paper, of a many-petalled safflower, and attached to a stem of bellflower, made from metal.

恋路をばふみだに見じと思ふみに何かはかかる涙なるらん

koiji oba
fumi dani miji to
omou mi ni
nani ka wa kakaru
namida naruran
Upon the path of love
I’ve not seen you take even one step
I feel, so
Why might you show such
Tears, I wonder?

Kii, in service to the former Kamo Virgin
10

A picture of a safflower.
Safflower. Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 32

ゆめののちむなしきとこはあらじかしあきののなかもこひしかりけり

yume no nochi
munashiki toko wa
araji kashi
aki no no naka mo
koishikarikeri
After a dream of you
The emptiness of my bed
I feel not, I think, for
Amid the autumn meadows
I do love you still.

63

もみぢばのたまれるかりのなみだにはあきの月こそかげやどしけれ

momijiba no
tamareru kari no
namida ni wa
aki no tsuki koso
kage yadoshikere
The scarlet leaves
Clog the goose
Tears, where
It I the autumn moon’s
Light finds lodging.

64

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 25

かりのみとうはのそらなるなみだこそあきのたもとのつゆとおくらめ

kari nomi to
uwa no sora naru
namida koso
aki no tamoto no
tsuyu to okurame
The geese simply from
The skies above
Do drop their tears;
It is in autumn that my sleeves
Seem to gather dewdrops.

49

山がはのたきつせしばしよどまなむあきのもみぢのいろとめて見む

yamagawa no
takitsuse shibashi
yodomanamu
aki no momiji no
iro tomete mimu
The mountain river’s
Rapids seem briefly
Stilled;
Autumn’s scarlet leaves’
Hues have halted it, I see.

50

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 24

ひとしれぬなみだやそらにくもりつつあきのしぐれとふりまさるらむ[1]

hito shirenu
namida ya sora ni
kumoritsutsu
aki no shigure to
furimasaruramu
Unknown to all
With tears the skies
Are ever clouded;
The autumn drizzle
Seems to fall the harder.

47

あきくれば山とよむまでなくしかに我おとらめやひとりぬるよは

aki kureba
yama toyomu made
naku shika ni
ware otorame ya
hitori nuru yo wa
When the autumn comes
The mountains echo with
The belling stags;
Will they lose to me
These nights I sleep alone?

48


[1] This poem appears in Fubokushō (5546), where it is attributed to [Ariwara no] Motokata.

Koresada shinnō-ke uta’awase 12

わびひとのとしふるさとはあきのののむしのやどりのなるぞわびしき[1]

wabibito no
toshi furu sato wa
aki no no no
mushi no yadori no
naru zo wabishiki
For one sunk in sadness
In an ancient dwelling
Among the autumn fields, where
The insects take their lodging,
Their cries are more heartbreaking.

23

あきのよのつゆをばつゆとおきながらかりのなみだやのべをそむらん[2]

aki no yo no
tsuyu oba tsuyu to
okinagara
kari no namida ya
nobe o somuramu
On Autumn nights
The dew as dewdrops
Falls, but,
Perhaps goose tears
Stain the fields?

24


[1] This poems also appears in Fubokushō (5579), where it is attributed to Ariwara no Motokata

[2] This poem also appears in Kokinshū (V: 258) and Kokin rokujō (584). In both collections it is attributed to Mibu no Tadamine.