Cranes in a garden (庭上鶴馴)
Left
庭の面に人になれたるあしたづはよはひをきみにゆづるなるべし
niwa no omo ni
hito ni naretaru
ashitazu wa
yowai o kimi ni
yuzurunarubeshi | Upon this garden’s face stands,
Accustomed to folk,
A crane;
His years to my Lord
Will he bestow, no doubt! |
A Court Lady
31
Right
千とせふるやどのけしきやしるからん汀のたづのなれにけるかな
chitose furu
yado no keshiki ya
shirukaran
migiwa no tazu no
narenikeru kana | Is it that a thousand years old
This dwelling does appear?
For to the muddy
Water’s edge the cranes
Have become accustomed! |
A Court Lady
32
The Seventh Night 七夜
つるの子のちとせをふべきはじめとは七日よりこそ祝ひ初めけれ
tsuru no ko no
chitose o fubeki
hajime to wa
nanuka yori koso
iwaisomekere | A crane chick
Shall through a thousand years pass;
The beginning is
From this seventh day, for sure, as
We begin our celebration! |
Daishin
The Seventh Night 七夜
ちとせふる祝の松のつるの子はけふすをたちて七夜なりけり
chitose furu
iwai no matsu no
tsuru no ko wa
kyō su o tachite
nanayo narikeri | Ageing for a thousand years,
A celebratory pine is where
A crane chick has
Today made her nest and
Reached her seventh night. |
Higo
Sakaki 榊
しもおけど色もかはらぬさかきばは君がちとせのかざしなりけり
shimo okedo
iro mo kawaranu
sakakiba wa
kimi ga chitose no
kazashi narikeri | Frost falls, yet
Unchanged are the hues of
Leaves upon the sacred tree:
For my Lord a thousand years of
Decoration will they be! |
Nakazane
New Year’s Day
よきことをますみの鏡今日見ればかねて千年のかげぞうかべる
yoki koto o
masumi no kagami
kyō mireba
kanete chitose no
kage zo ukaberu | When pleasant things
In the clearest of glasses
Today I see,
Already a thousand years’
Sights have floated there… |
Higo
The Ninth Day of the Ninth Month
をるきくの露にぬれたるけふよりやちとせの秋にあはむとすらん
oru kiku no
tsuyu ni nuretaru
kyō yori ya
chitose no aki ni
awamu to suran | Picked chrysanthemums’
Dew dampens us
Today – will we
For a thousand years of autumns
Decide to meet together? |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
The Ninth Day of the Ninth Month
けふごとに菊を薬とする人はちとせのなかは過ぐといふなり
kyō goto ni
kiku o kusuri to
suru hito wa
chitose no naka wa
sugu to iu nari | Every year today
Chrysanthemums for medicine
Do people take, that
A thousand years together
And more will they have, they say. |
Minamoto no Nakazane
源仲実
'Simply moving and elegant'