Left
夏草も夜の間は露にいこふらむ常にこがるる我ぞかなしき
| natsukusa mo yo no ma wa tsuyu ni ikouramu tsune ni kogaruru ware zo kanashiki | Upon the summer grasses Throughout the night do dewdrops Seem to rest, and Ever smouldering, I feel sad, indeed! |
76
Right
ながめつつ人まつをりによぶこ鳥いづかたへとか立ちかへりなく
| nagametsutsu hito matsu ori ni yobukodori izukata e to ka tachikaerinaku | Always I gaze out While waiting for him; O, songbird! Whither are you bound? Trilling back and forth… |
77
Left
夏の風我が袂にしつつまればおもはむ人のつとにしてまし
| natsu no kaze wa ga tamoto ni shi tsutsumareba omowamu hito no tsuto ni shitemashi | The summer breeze Within my sleeves Has become entangled, so For the one I’m longing for I would take it as a gift. |
51
Right
なつ草のしげき思ひは蚊遣火の下にのみこそもえ渡りけれ
| natsukusa no shigeki omoi wa kayaribi no shita ni nomi koso moewatarikere | As summer grasses Lush my fires of passion: as Mosquito smudges, Beneath they simply Burn everywhere. |
52[1]
[1] Shinchokusenshū XII: 709/Shinsen man’yōshū 79
Left
空蝉の侘びしきものを夏草の露にかかれる身にこそ有りけれ
| utsusemi no wabishiki mono o natsukusa no tsuyu ni kakareru mi ni koso arikere | A cicada’s empty shell Is so sorrowful; To a stalk of summer grass, All draped with dewdrops, It’s form does cling. |
43
Right
なつの夜の月はほどなく明けながらあしたの間をぞかこちよせける
| natsu no yo no tsuki wa hodonaku akenagara ashita no ma o zo kakochiyosekeru | On a summer night, The moon lacks time To brighten, so It will do it on the morrow— That is its excuse! |
44
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
なつ草のしげき思ひは蚊遣火の下にのみこそもえ渡りけれ
| natsukusa no shigeki omoi wa kayaribi no shita ni nomi koso moewatarikere | As summer grasses Lush my fires of passion: as Mosquito smudges, Beneath they simply Burn everywhere. |
Anonymous