When Prince Katsura had said ‘Catch some fireflies,’ and one of the boys had them wrapped up in the sleeves of his jacket.
つつめどもかくれぬ物は夏虫の身よりあまれる思ひなりけり
| tutumedomo kakurenu mono Fa natumusi no mi yori amareru omoFinarikeri | Wrapped up, yet Unconcealable are The summer insects: Their bodies bringing an excess Of passion’s fires. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
やへむぐらしげきやどには夏虫の声より外に問ふ人もなし
| yaFemugura sigeki yado ni Fa natumusi no kowe yori Foka ni toFu Fito mo nasi | The tangled, overlapping creepers A lush dwelling do make; The summer insects’ Songs apart No folk come to call. |
Anonymous
Topic unknown.
夏虫をなにかいひけむ心から我も思ひにもえぬへらなり
| natumusi o nani ka iFikemu kokoro kara ware mo omoFi ni moenuberanari | About the summer insects What is there to say? From deep within my heart I, too, with fires of passion Can only burn! |
Mitsune
Topic unknown.
夏虫の身をいたづらになすこともひとつ思ひによりてなりけり
| natumusi no mi wo itadura ni nasu koto mo Fitotu omoFi ni yorite narikeri | Just as the summer insects Heedlessly their bodies Treat, So I, in the flame of a single passion Do… |
Anonymous
Summer Insects (夏虫)
なにごとをいとかくばかり夏虫のおもひあまりて身をこがすらん
| nanigoto o ito kaku bakari natsumushi no omoiamarite mi o kogasuran | What is it that So simply The summer insects Does drive to desperation, and Seem to set their flesh to smouldering? |
Daishin
Summer Insects (夏虫)
露のいのちはかなくみゆる夏虫のたれを思ひに身をこがすらん
| tsuyu no inochi hakanaku miyuru natsumushi no tare o omoi ni mi ni kogasuran | A dewdrop life So brief does seem; The summer insects: For whom might the fires of their passion Set their flesh to smouldering? |
Higo
Summer Insects (夏虫)
くさむらにすむ夏虫は去年の秋くちし下葉のなるにや有るらん
| kusamura ni sumu natsumushi wa kozo no aki kuchishi shitaba no naru ni ya aruran | In clumps of grass Do dwell the summer insects: The autumn of yesteryear’s Withered underleaves Will they truly become? |
Kanemasa
Summer Insects (夏虫)
夏虫はおもひにしづむ世の中にうきなからふる身をいかにせん
| natsumushi wa omoi ni shizumu yo no naka ni ukinagara furu mi o ika ni sen | Summer insects: Submerged in fires of passion In this mundane world, and Drifting, growing old What am I to do? |
Tadafusa
Summer Insects (夏虫)
ともし火に入る夏虫のはかなさを身にたとへてもあかしつるかな
| tomoshibi ni iru natsumushi no hakanasa o mi ni tatoetemo akashitsuru kana | Into the torches Plunge the summer insects: Their brief lives Compared to mine Brought more brightness! |
Toshiyori
Summer Insects (夏虫)
いかにしてもゆる中にも入りぬらんおもひに身をもかふるむしかな
| ika ni shite moyuru uchi ni mo irinuran omoi ni mi o mo kauru mushi kana | What am I to do? While ‘tis burning still Should I plunge within? To fires of passion my body Transform as insects do! |
Nakazane