Left
をみなへし匂へる野辺にやどりせばあやなくあだの名をやたちなん
ominaeshi
nioeru nobe ni
yadoriseba
ayanaku ada no
na o ya tachinan | A maidenflower
Shines in the meadows, and
Should I find lodging there,
Carelessly, would fickle
Rumour arise? |
Ono no Yoshiki
88
Right
秋風にさそはれ来つる雁がねの雲ゐはるかにけふぞ聞ゆる
akikaze ni
sasowarekitsuru
kari ga ne no
kumoi haruka ni
kyō zo kikoyuru | On the autumn breeze
Has come, inviting,
A goose’s cry
From among the distant clouds
Today I hear it. |
89
なに事を待つとはなしに明けくれてことしもけふになりにけるかな
nanigoto o
matsu to wa nashi ni
akekurete
kotoshi mo kyō ni
narinikeru kana | What is there
To wait for? Nothing!
Dawn, then dusk and
The new year, too, today
Has come! |
Minamoto no Kunizane
源国信
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
Katsura 桂
人しれずけふをしまつと風はやみかつらの枝を折りもよわらず
hito shirezu
kyō o shimatsu to
kaze hayami
katsura no eda o
ori mo yowarazu | Unknown to all
For today have I made ready –
Amid the rushing wind
The katsura branches will
I break without hesitation! |
Toshiyori
Temples 寺
有為の世はけふかあすかのかねの音をあはれいつまできかんとすらん
ui no yo wa
kyō ka asu ka no
kane no oto o
aware itsu made
kikan to suran | In this mundane world
Today and tomorrow, too,
The bell tolls on –
How long will its melancholy
I continue to hear? |
Kanemasa
New Year’s Day
もろ人の花見む春のはじめとや今日は思ひのひらけぬるかな
morobito no
hana mimu haru no
hajime to ya
kyō wa omoi no
hirakenuru kana | For crowds of folk
Does blossom viewing springtime
Begin, I wonder?
Today such thoughts
Have opened up! |
Daishin
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
New Year’s Day
今日よりは我をもちゐの増鏡うれしきかげをうつしてぞ見む
kyō yori wa
ware o mochi’i no
masukagami
ureshiki kage o
utsushite zo mimu | From today
Holding me within shall
This glass so clear
A joyous face
Reflected see! |
Toshiyori
Left
けふも猶雪はふりつつ春霞たてるやいづこ若菜つみてむ
kyō mo nao
yuki wa furitsutsu
harugasumi
tateru ya izuko
wakana tsumitemu |
Still yet, today
Is the snow falling;
O, spring haze
Where do you arise?
For I would go and pluck fresh herbs! |
3
In no hyakushu, shodo, Eighth Month Shōji 2 [September 1200]
Right
朝氷たがため分て此川のむかへの野べに若菜つむらん
asagōri
ta ga tame wakete
kono kawa no
mukae no nobe ni
wakana tsumuran |
This film of morning ice:
For who’s sake do I break it?
On this river’s
Yonder side within the fields
Would I pluck fresh herbs… |
4
Naidaijinke hyakushu, Ninth Month Kenpō 3 [October 1215]
下にのみ恋ひ渡りしを玉の緒の乱れて今日ぞ人に知らるる
sita ni nomi
koFiwatarisi wo
tama no wo no
midarete keFu zo
Fito ni siraruru |
Simply hidden
Has been my journey of love, and that
My jewelled thread of live
Is tangled today of all
I would have her know! |
Fujiwara no Akinaka
藤原顕仲
'Simply moving and elegant'