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
When she offered a hundred poem sequence.
いまさくらさきぬと見えてうすぐもり春にかすめるよのけしきかな
ima sakura
sakinu to miete
usugumori
haru ni kasumeru
yo no keshiki kana |
Now the cherry
Has flowered, it seems,
A little clouded –
The heights of hazy Spring
Is how all feels, indeed. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
A Spring poem, when she offered a hundred-poem sequence.
ながめつるけふはむかしになりぬとものきばのむめはわれをわするな
nagametsuru
kyô wa mukashi ni
narinu tomo
nokiba no mume wa
ware o wasuru na |
I turn my gaze on you
Today-and when it is long past –
Even then,
O, plums sheltering ’neath my eaves,
Forget me not! |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
Composed as a spring poem, when she presented a hundred poem sequence.
山ふかみ春ともしらぬ松のとにたえだえかかる雪のたまみづ
yama fukami
haru tomo shiranu
matsu no to ni
taedae kakaru
yuki no tamamizu |
Deep within the mountains
That Spring has come remains unknown;
On my pinewood door,
Slowly strike
Droplets of snowmelt. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
Composed as a Shintō poem in a hundred poem sequence.
さりともとたのむ心は神さびて久しくなりぬかもの瑞垣
saritomo to
tanomu kokoro Fa
kamusabite
Fisasiku narinu
kamo no midugaki |
Whatever
The heart desires within
The dread
And ancient
Walls of Kamo. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
Composed as a Love poem in a hundred poem sequence.
袖の色は人の問ふまでなりもせよ深き思ひを君し賴まば
sode no iro Fa
Fito no toFu made
nari mo seyo
Fukaki omoFi wo
kimi si tanomaba |
My sleeves’ hue
Is enough to make folk ask-
I care not!
The depth of my love-
If only you would believe in it… |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
'Simply moving and elegant'