When she presented a hundred poem sequence:
ひかずふる雪げにまさるすみがまのけぶりもさむし大原のさと
hi kazu furu
yukige ni masaru
sumigama no
keburi mo samushi
ōhara no sato |
Day after passing day
The snow-sign has grown stronger above
The charcoal kilns
The very smoke is chill
In the village of Ōhara. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
In a hundred poem sequence:
さむしろのよはの衣手さえさえてはつ雪しろしをかのべの松
samushiro no
yowa no koromode
saesaete
hatsuyuki shiroshi
oka no be no matsu | Alone in my meagre bedding,
My nightgown’s sleeves
Are deeply chill, indeed;
The first snows lie white
Upon the pines along the hillside. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
An Autumn poem from a hundred poem sequence she presented.
きりの葉もふみわけがたくなりにけりかならず人をまつとなけれど
kiri no ha mo
fumiwakegataku
narinikeri
kanarazu hito o
matsu to nakeredo |
The paulownia leaves
Impassable
Have become, you know.
Not there is anyone
I’m waiting for, you understand! |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
As part of a hundred-poem sequence.
ながむれば衣手すゞしひさかたのあまのかはらの秋のゆふぐれ
nagamureba
koromode suzushi
hisakata no
ama no kawara no
aki no yūgure |
While I was staring into space,
How chill my sleeves became;
Upon eternal
Heaven’s riverbed
Comes an autumn evening. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
From a hundred poem sequence.
うたゝねのあさけのそでにかはるなりならすあふぎの秋のはつ風
utatane no
asake no sode ni
kawaru nari
narasu ôi no
aki no hatsu kaze |
Waking from a doze,
Across my sleeves at dawn
In place of
My wafting fan
Comes the first breeze of autumn. |
Princess Shokushi (?-1201)
式子内親王
From a hundred poem sequence.
ゆふだちの雲もとまらぬ夏の日のかたぶく山にひぐらしのこゑ
yūdachi no
kumo mo tomaranu
natsu no hi no
katabuku yama ni
higurashi no koe |
Shower-filled clouds
Have passed by, unstopping;
The summer sun
Inclines towards the mountains
Where the cicadas sing. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
Composed when she was Kamo High Priestess, at the shrine buildings.
わすれめやあふひをくさにひきむすびかりねのゝべのつゆのあけぼの
wasureme ya
aoi o kusa ni
hikimusubi
karine no nobe no
tsuyu no akebono |
Will I forget, I wonder,
Hollyhocks for my pillow
Plucked and twined,
Sleeping briefly in the fields
On this dew-drenched dawning. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
From a hundred-poem sequence.
はかなくてすぎにしかたをかぞふれば花にものおもふ春ぞへにける
hakanakute
suginishi kata o
kazoureba
hana ni mono’omou
haru zo henikeri |
At a loss,
To times gone past
My thoughts return;
Gloomily on blossoms have I thought,
This spring gone by. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
From a hundred-poem sequence.
花はちりその色となくながむればむなしきそらに春雨ぞふる
hana wa chiri
sono iro to naku
nagamureba
munashiki sora ni
harusame zo furu |
The flowers have fallen,
With not even their colours
On which to rest my gaze, as
From the empty skies
Spring rains fall. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
Sent to Prince Kore’akira with a sprig of double-flowered cherry blossom she had had picked.
やへにほふのきばのさくらうつろひぬ風よりさきにとふ人もがな
yae niou
nokiba no sakura
utsuroinu
kaze yori saki ni
tou hito mo gana |
The double hues
Of cherry beneath my eaves
Have paled;
Before the wind,
I would that you had visited… |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
'Simply moving and elegant'