New Year Archery
真手つがふ弦音たかし的形のうらめづらしき春の朝庭
mate tsugau
tsuru’oto takashi
matokata no
ura mezurashiki
haru no chōtei | Many hands putting arrow to
Bowstring, the sound so loud;
The targets’ shape
From behind, so rare
At the court in springtime! |
Ueda Akinari 上田秋成 (1734-1809)
[Sent to] the Assistant Master of the Empress’ Household, the morning after New Year Archery.
弓はりのまとゐやいかにありしそもいるかた山は遠ざかりけん
yumihari no
matoi ya ika ni
arishi somo
iru katayama wa
tōzakariken | The archery
Targets: how
Were they, indeed?
The direction you were shooting, as a mountainside
Distant seems to have been! |
New Year Archery
はるたてばあづさのま弓ひきつれてみかきの内にまとゐをぞする
haru tateba
azusa no mayumi
hikitsurete
mikaki no uchi ni
matoi o zo suru | With the rise of spring,
Fair bows of catalpa
Do we draw, and
Within the sacred bounds
Convivially take aim at targets! |
Akinaka
'Simply moving and elegant'