風の間に散る淡雪のはかなくてところどころに降るぞわひしき
kaze no ma ni tiru aFayuki no Fakanakute tokorodokoro ni Furu zo wabisiki |
In the breeze Scatter soft snow flurries So brief that Its intermittent Fall is sad, indeed… |
At a time when there was a reading of the Lotus Sutra at the Bodai Temple and she had gone to hear it, she heard from someone asking her to return home quickly, so she composed:
求めてもかゝる蓮の露をおきてうき世に又は歸る物かは
motomete mo kakaru Fatisu no tuyu wo okite uki yo ni mata Fa kaFeru mono ka Fa |
Even being asked, Faced with such a lotus – Dew-dropped – should I abandon it And once again to the world of pain Return? |
Sei Shōnagon
清少納言
In the reign of Retired Emperor Ichijō, when the Empress contributed to the Gosechi Dances, on the last day she presented 12 girls of her retinue, all, down to the lowest, dressed in aozuri; when one of them, Hyōe by name, was tying her scarlet belt, she asked someone to do it up for her; hearing this, Captain Sanekata, saying he would do it, recited, “Leg-wearying/The mountain spring waters/Are frozen, yet/What belt/Will melt it, I wonder?” On hearing him, Sei Shōnagon composed this in reply:
うは氷あはにむすべるひもなればかざす日影にゆるぶばかりを
uFa koFori aFa ni musuberu Fimo nareba kazazu Fikage ni yurubu bakari wo |
The ice above is Light as foam-and lightly tied Is this belt-so Shining sunlight Alone will loosen it! |
Sei Shōnagon
清少納言
When a man who had promised to come did not appear all night, but came afterwards, she refused to see him; he complained, saying that was hard-hearted, so she composed:
よしさらばつらさは我に習ひけり賴めて來ぬは誰か敎へし
yosi saraba turasa Fa ware ni naraFikeri tanomete konu Fa tare ka osiFesi |
Fine then! How to be hard-hearted, from me You have learned! But to promise, then not come- Who taught you that, I wonder! |
Sei Shōnagon
清少納言
When the governor of Michinoku, [Tachibana no] Norimitsu was a Chamberlain, and she wanted to let him know that they were finished, she retired to her home, saying, ‘If people ask, don’t tell them where I am.’ When he sent back to her, saying, ‘What am I to do if people demand to know-as your husband I should know, surely?’ she bundled up some seaweed and sent it to him. Norimitsu didn’t understand and came to her, asking, ‘What on earth do you think you are doing?’. So she composed this poem.
潛ぎする蜑の在所をそこなりとゆめいふなとやめをくはせけん
kadugisuru ama no arika wo soko nari to yume iFu na to ya me wo kuFaseken |
‘When beneath the waves, The fisher-folk may be found At the bottom there!’ Tell no one at all- Eat the seaweed-will you see the signs, I wonder! |
Sei Shōnagon
清少納言
Once Sei Shônagon was chatting to Major Councillor [Fujiwara no] Yukinari when, saying the palace was sealed because of a taboo, he made as if to leave hurriedly the following morning; she said he had been urged to leave by the cocks’ crowing, so he replied, ‘Cocks only crow in the middle of the night at Hangu Pass, don’t they?’ and got up and left; she composed this to say they were at Meeting Hill Barrier.
夜をこめて鳥の空音ははかるともよに逢坂の關はゆるさじ
yo wo komete tori no sora ne Fa Fakaru tomo yo ni aFusaka no seki Fa yurusazi |
In the depths of night Cocks’ crows Cause confusion, yet In the dark on Meeting Hill The barrier won’t let you through! |
Sei Shōnagon
清少納言