Left (Tie).
幾かへり我身の憂さも知らずして心尽しの人を戀ふらん
iku kaeri
wa ga mi no usa mo
shirazushite
kokoro tsukushi no
hito o kouran |
How deep is
My despair?
I do not know, but
My heart, exhausted is in Tsukushi,
With the one I love… |
Lord Kanemune.
867
Right.
君が住む阿武隈河は名のみしてよそながらのみ戀や渡覧
kimi ga sumu
abukumagawa wa
na nomi shite
yoso nagara nomi
koi ya wataruran |
My darling dwells by
Abukuma River – known for meeting –
But that is all:
Simply far apart
Will our love ever be? |
Lord Tsune’ie.
868
Both Left and Right state: the poem sounds antiquated.
In judgement: the Left’s ‘how deep is’ (iku kaeri) and the Right’s ‘simply far apart’ (yoso nagara nomi) once again, are of the same standard.
On Rivers.
夕さらずかはづ鳴くなる三輪川の清き瀬の音を聞かくしよしも
yū sarazu
kawazu nakunaru
miwagawa no
kiyoki se no oto o
kikakushi yoshi mo |
Evening comes, and
The frogs do cry;
The River Miwa’s
Crystal currents’ sound
Is a pleasure, indeed! |
Anonymous
When converting the Man’yōshū to Japanese.
涙河底のみくづとなりはてて恋しきせぜに流れこそすれ
namidagaFa
soko no mikudu to
nariFatete
koFisiki seze ni
nagare koso sure |
A river of tears:
As flotsam on the bed
Will I finally become, should
Love in rapids
Flow so much… |
Minamoto no Shitagō
竜田川岸の山吹咲きぬれば影より波ぞ折りはじめける
tatsutagawa
kishi no yamabuki
sakinureba
kage yori nami zo
orihajimekeru |
On Tatsuta River’s
Bank, the kerria
Has bloomed, so
From its face
Waves have begun to weave… |
Tsunemasa
経正
風のおる波のあやをや夏衣竜田川とは言ひ流すらむ
kaze no oru
nami no aya wo ya
natu koromo
tatutagaFa to Fa
iFinagasuramu |
Does the wind weave
A pattern from the waves?
The summer garb
Of Tatsuta River –
Does it seem to say! |
Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu
竜田川紅葉葉とづる薄氷渡らばそれと中や絶えなむ
tatsutagawa
momijiba tozuru
usukōri
wataraba sore to
naka ya taenamu |
The River Tatsuta:
Scarlet leaves are sealed within
Sheet ice;
Should I cross would it
Shatter in the centre? |
Ietaka
For a poetry competition held in the Tenryaku era.
春ふかみゐてのかは浪たちかへり見てこそゆかめ山吹の花
Faru Fukami
wide no kaFanami
tatikaFeri
mite koso yukame
yamabuki no Fana |
In the depths of spring
Waves on the river at Idé
Rise and fall endlessly;
Thus would I go and see
The kerria blooms… |
Minamoto no Shitagō
Composed in the conception of hearing stags while staying overnight at a port.
湊川夜ふねこぎいづる追風に鹿の声さへ瀬戸わたるなり
minatogaFa
yobune kogi’iduru
oFikaze ni
sika no kowe saFe
seto watarunari |
At Minato River
The night boats row out
Carried on the wind
Do even the stags’ cries
Carry across the straits? |
Dōin (1090-1182)
道因
都人今もこじまの山吹になみをりかくる宇治の川波
miyakobito
ima mo kojima no
yamabuki ni
namiorikakuru
uji no kawanami |
Capital folk,
Now, too, in islets of
Golden kerria
Align, concealed by
The waves on Uji River. |
Emperor Gotoba
後鳥羽院
Composed when he had gone to the Uji River.
朝ぼらけ宇治の川ぎり絶々にあらはれ渡る瀬々の網代木
asaborake
udi no kaFagiri
taedae ni
araFarewataru
sese no aziroki |
At the dawn
The mists across Uji River
Fade in and out
Drifting across
The fishing nets in the rapids. |
Middle Councillor [Fujiwara no] Sadayori (995-1045)
中納言定頼
'Simply moving and elegant'