Silver Grass.
軒端なるいさゝむら竹それならでそよぐか夜半の荻の上風
nokiba naru
isasamuratake
sore narade
soyogu ka yowa no
ogi no uwakaze |
Close by my eaves,
A grove of young bamboo:
’Tis no you,
Stirred past midnight, but
Wind atop the silver grass. |
をのづからとふがほなりし荻の葉もかれがれになる風の寒けさ
onozukara
tougao narishi
ogi no ha mo
karegare ni naru
kaze no samukesa |
Of itself
Has it paid a visit to
The leaves of silver grass;
All withered have they become,
In the chill of the wind. |
手にとれば歩行たく成る扇哉
te ni toreba
arukitakunaru
ōgi kana |
When I take it in my hand
I want to promenade-
My brand new fan. |
From the Minase 15 Love Poem Poetry Competition.
野邊のつゆはいろもなくてやこぼれつるそでよりすぐるおぎのうは風
nobe no tsuyu wa
iro mo nakute ya
koboretsuru
sode yori suguru
ogi no uwa kaze |
Do the dewdrops in the fields
Have no hue at all?
Drenched
My sleeves are brushed
By the wind over the bush-clover. |
Former Abbot Jien
慈円
Topic unknown.
いまはたゞ心のほかにきく物をしらずがほなるおぎのうは風
ima wa tada
kokoro no hoka ni
kiku mono o
shirazu gao naru
ogi no uwa kaze |
Now, truly,
To something other than my heart
Would I listen, but
Indifferently
Blows the wind upon the bush-clover leaves. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
Topic unknown.
あはれとてとふ人のなどなかるらんものおもふやどのおぎのうは風
aware tote
tou hito no nado
nakaruran
mono’omou yado no
ogi no uwa kaze |
O, how sad!
Why of visitors
Should there be not one?
In melancholy, where I dwell
The wind comes upon the bush-clover leaves. |
The Monk Saigyō
西行
Topic unknown.
あさぼらけおぎのうは葉のつゆみればやゝはださむし秋のはつ風
asa borake
ogi no uwaba no
tsuyu mireba
yaya hada samushi
aki no hatsukaze |
At the break of dawn
Upon the reed fronds
I see dew, and
Feel a sudden chill
In the first winds of Autumn. |
Sone no Yoshitada
曾禰好忠
From when he presented a hundred poem sequence to Retired Emperor Sutoku.
おぎの葉も契ありてや秋風のをとづれそむるつまとなりけん
ogi no ha mo
chigiri arite ya
aki kaze no
otozuresomuru
tsuma to nariken |
Are reed fronds too
Bound by former lives?
The Autumn wind
Has come to call:
They must be joined in wedlock! |
Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household [Fujiwara no] Toshinari (1114-1204)
藤原俊成
Topic unknown.
ゆふさればおぎの葉むけをふくかぜにことぞともなく涙おちけり
yū sareba
ogi no ha muke o
fuku kaze ni
koto zo to mo naku
namida ochikeri |
As the evening falls
The grass fronds
Blow within the wind;
Unable to resist
Tears fall. |
The Gotokudaiji Minister of the Left [Fujiwara no Sanesada] (1139-1191)
Topic unknown.
ゆふぐれはおぎふく風のをとまさるいまはたいかにねざめせられん
yūgure wa
ogi fuku kaze no
oto masaru
ima hata ikani
nezameseraren |
In the evening dusk
Wind rustles in the reeds
The sound grows ever stronger;
Henceforth, completely
Wide awake will I be, I think. |
Minister of Central Affairs, Prince Tomohira (964-1009)
'Simply moving and elegant'