Maidenflowers
Left
なびくとや人はみるらんをみなへしおもふかたにぞかぜもふきける
nabiku to ya hito wa miruran ominaeshi omou kata ni zo kaze mo fukikeru ‘Are they trailing?’ Folk wonder at the sight of The maidenflowers, and As they thought The wind, too, was blowing…
7
Right
おほかたののべなるよりはをみなへしねやのつまにてみるはまされり
ōkata no nobe naru yori wa ominaeshi neya no tsuma nite miru wa masareri So wide are The plains, but I’d rather A maidenflower— My wife in the bedchamber: Seeing her is better far!
8
Left
しらつゆのおけるあしたのをみなへしはなにもはにもたまぞかかれる
shiratsuyu no okeru ashita no ominaeshi hana ni mo ha ni mo tama zo kakareru Silver dewdrops Fallen in the morning on A maidenflower: Both bloom and leaves Are all hung with pearls.
7[1]
Right
をみなへしたてるのざとをうちすぎてうらみむつゆにぬれやん
ominaeshi tateru nozato o uchisugite uramimu tsuyu ni nure ya wataran A maidenflower Stands at a house upon the plains As I pass by; Is it her resentful dew That has drenched me on my way?
8
[1] Gyokuyōshū 526; Shinsen man’yōshū 606; Kokin rokujō 3687
Spring Dawn
あまの戸をほのかにあけて弛屋の野の霞と友に立ちぞやすらふ
ama no to o honoka ni akete koya no no no kasumi to tomo ni tachi zo yasurau The door to Heaven Opens but a bit, and On the plains at Koya In company with the misty haze Do I hesitate to rise.
Akinaka
白妙の豊御幣をとりもちていはひぞそむる紫の野に
sirotaFe no
toyomitegura o
torimotite
iFaFi zo somuru
murasaki no no ni
White mulberry cloth,
This offering,
I take and
In celebration dye it
Upon the violet plains…
Fujiwara no Nagatō (949-?1009)
藤原長能
Composed in the conception of hidden love after a vow, when the gentlemen were composing poetry at the Hosshōji at around time of the offering of flowers in the Fifth Month.
憑めこし野邊の道芝夏ふかしいづくなるらむ鵙の草ぐき
tanomekoshi
nobe no michishiba
natsu fukashi
izukunaruramu
mozu no kusaguki
Trusting her, I have come
To the overgrown plains, where
Summer lies deep;
Where can
The shrike be hiding in the grasses?
Master of the Dowager Empress Household Office, Shunzei
皇太后宮大夫俊成
日数ゆく野原篠原夏深し分入る袖の露の草摺
hikazu yuku
nohara shinohara
natsu fukashi
wake’iru sode no
tsuyu no kusazuri
The days go by, and
Upon the plains and bamboo groves
Summer lies deep;
Sleeves forging through are
Dyed by dewy grasses.
Fujiwara no Shunzei
藤原俊成
'Simply moving and elegant'