橘の美袁利の里に父を置きて道の長道は行きかてのかも
tatibana nö
miwori nö sato ni
titi wo okite
miti nö nagate pa
yukikate nö ka mo |
In Tachibana
In the village of Miwori
I left my father;
This long, long road
Is hard to travel, indeed. |
The above poem is by Hasebe no Tarimaro.
國廻るあとりかまけり行き廻り歸り來までに齋ひて待たね
kuni meguru
atöri kama keri
yukimeguri,
kaperiku made ni
ipapite matane |
Circling the provinces
The bramblings, ducks and lapwings
Go around,
Until I return again
Pray for me, and wait. |
The above poem is by Osakabe no Mushimaro.
水鳥の立ちの急ぎに父母に物言はず來にて今ぞ悔しき
midu töri nö
tati nö isogi ni
titi papa ni
monö ipazu kenite
ima zö kuyasiki |
The water fowl
Take flight at speed
From my father and my mother
Without a word, I came away
How I do regret that now. |
The above poem is by Utobe no Ushimaro, Senior serviceable male.
我が妻も繪に描き取らむ暇もが旅行く我れは見つつ偲はむ
wa ga tuma mo
e ni kaki toramu
iduma mo ga,
tabi yuku are pa
mitutu sinöbamu |
My wife
In a picture I’d draw,
Had I but the time,
Then on my journey
Would I gaze at it, remembering her. |
The above poem is by Mononobe no Komaro of Lower Naga District.
我が妻はいたく戀ひらし飮む水に影さへ見えてよに忘られず
wa ga tuma pa
itaku kopirasi
nomu midu ni
kagö sapë miete
yö ni wasurarezu |
My wife
Loves me dearly, it seems
For in my drinking water
Her form appears
In life, I never can forget her. |
The above poem is by Wakayamatobe no Mimaro of Aratama District, a man of serviceable age in the service of the Registrar’s Office.
Poems by border guards from various provinces sent as relief to Tsukushi in the 7th year of Tempyō-Shōhō [755], Second Month.
畏きや命被り明日ゆりや草がむた寢む妹なしにして
kasikoki ya
mikötö kagapuri
asu yuri ya
kae ga muta nemu
imu nasi ni site |
A fearsome
Order I received
And from the morrow
Will I sleep among the grasses
Without my darling girl? |
The above poem is by Mononobe no Akimochi of Lower Naga District, a man of serviceable age in the service of the District Governor.
'Simply moving and elegant'