Sleet
夕されば雪ふるさとの柴の庵しづくにてこそみぞれとはしれ
yūsareba
yuki furu sato no
shiba no ya wa
shizuku nite koso
mizore to wa shire | When the evening comes
Snow falling upon the estate’s
Brushwood rooves
Forms droplets and
I know ‘tis sleet. |
Minamoto no Akinaka
源顕仲
五月雨に畔の細道水深み田中の里は人ぞ通はぬ
samidare ni
aze no Fosomiti
midu Fukami
tanaka no sato Fa
Fito zo kayoFanu |
In the drizzle
Above the narrow paths between the paddies
So deep is the water that
The dwelling within the rice fields
Is visited by no one at all… |
咲きにけり苗代水に影見えて田中の里の山吹の花
sakinikeri
naFasiro midu ni
kage miete
tanaka no sato no
yamabuki no Fana |
So, they have bloomed;
Among the waters of the seedling beds
Do I see the light;
At the dwelling among the rice-fields
Of the kerria blooms. |
Taikenmon’in Horikawa
待賢門院堀河
さと遠み山田のいほはいなづまのひかりのもるをともとみるかな
sato tōmi
yamada no io wa
inazuma no
hikari no moru o
tomo to miru kana | Far from home
In the mountain fields a hut
By lightning’s
Light is drenched,
Which we watch together. |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
Lightning 稲妻
はかなしや田中の里はいなづまのほどなきかげをたのみてぞふる
hakanashi ya
tanaka no sato wa
inazuma no
hodo naki kage o
tanomite zo furu | So briefly
At this dwelling among the fields
Upon the lightning’s
Lengthless light
I will rely and lie me down… |
Akinaka
大き海の水底深く思ひつつ裳引き平しし菅原の里
opoki umi no
minasoko pukaku
omopitutu
mobiki narasisi
sugapara no sato |
The mighty ocean’s
Watery bed is deep
As my lasting love;
Swept smooth with my skirt was the way
To the estate at Sugawara… |
The Elder Maiden of Ishikawa
Early Evening (晩立)
夕立にをちのみぞ川まさりつつふらぬ里までながれきにけり
yūdachi ni
ochi no mizogawa
masaritsutsu
furanu sato made
nagare kinikeri | With the evening showers
The distant drainage ditches
Are overflowing;
All the way to an untouched estate
Do they run! |
Kanemasa
Topic unknown.
誰が里に夜がれをしてか郭公ただここにしも寝たる声する
ta ga sato ni
yokare o site ka
Fototogisu
tada koko ni simo
netaru kowesuru |
At whose home
Do you pass the night,
O, cuckoo?
For it is here, alone
That you should sleep and sing! |
Anonymous
When a man who had long visited a woman at the house of the Sugawara Minister, ceased coming for a while, and then came once more.
菅原や伏見の里の荒れしより通ひし人のあともたえにき
sugaFara ya
Fusimi no sato no
aresi yori
kayoFisi Fito no
ato mo taeniki |
Sedge fields lie
Around the estate of Fushimi,
All long overgrown;
He who passed across them
Has left no tracks at all… |
Anonymous
A poem from the Empress’ Poetry Competition in the Kanpyō period.
春たてど花もにほはぬ山里は物うかる音に鶯ぞなく
Faru tatedo
Fana mo niFoFanu
yamazato Fa
mono’ukaru ne ni
uguFisu zo naku |
Spring has come, yet
The blossoms do not shine
At my mountain home
How reluctantly
Does the warbler sing… |
Ariwara no Muneyana
在原棟梁
'Simply moving and elegant'