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
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
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
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
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
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
木の葉のみちるかとおもひし時雨には涙もあへぬ物にぞ有りける
| ko no ha nomi chiru ka to omoishi shigure ni wa namida mo aenu mono ni zo arikeru | ‘Do the trees’ leaves simply Fall?’ I wondered; The showers Fail to match my tears At the thought. |
Toshiyori
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
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
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.
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.