Composed on the conception of love at the end of the Third Month.
春はをし人はこよひとたのむればおもひわづらふ今日のくれかな
Faru Fa wosi
Fito Fa koyoi to
tanomureba
omoFiwazuraFu
keFu no kure kana | Regretting the departure of spring, and
Tonight, my man
Expecting,
Wracked with painful thoughts
Does today reach its dusk! |
The Minister of the Centre
Created with Soan.
Hair.
ねくたれのかみけづるよもあはざればこひしきものをけふはくらしつ
nekutare no
kami kezuru yo mo
awazareba
koishiki mono o
kyō wa kurashitsu | My sleep-tangled
Hair I comb tonight, even though
We have not met, so
The one I love will be
In my thoughts all day long. |
Anonymous
From among his winter poems.
時雨れつるよひの村雲さえかへりふけ行く風にあられふるなり
shiguretsuru
yoi no murasame
saekaeri
fukeyuku kaze ni
arare furunari | Showering
Tonight the cloudbursts
Bring returning chill and
Amidst the gusting wind
Hailstones fall. |
Ietaka, Junior Second Rank
The Night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month
いつとても月見ぬ秋はなきものをわきて今夜のめづらしきかな
itu tote mo
tuki minu aki Fa
naki mono wo
wakite koyoFi no
medurasiki kana | When is there
An autumn without gazing on the moon?
Never, but
On considering, tonight
It is rare, indeed! |
Fujiwara no Masatada
逢ふ事やこよひこよひとかよふまに空忘れして月日へにけり
au koto ya
koyoi koyoi to
kayou ma ni
sora wasureshite
tsukihi henikeri | I wonder will we meet
Tonight, maybe tonight, I think, and
While I’m on my way,
Forgetful of the skies,
Days and months have passed me by. |
Kuninobu, the Minamoto Middle Counsellor
5
In reply.
あや莚をとなるまでも恋ひずしてまだきに床を忘るべしやは
ayamushiro
oto naru made mo
koizushite
madaki ni toko o
wasurubeshi ya wa | My patterned blanket
Lies far away, and yet
Lacking love
How swiftly my bed
Might you be able to forget? |
Daishin, in service to His Former Majesty
6
Spiders 蜘蛛
ささがにのしるしもいさやいかならんこよひにてみんくものふるまひ
sasagani no
shirushi mo isa ya
ika naruran
koyoi nite min
kumo no furumai | A tiny crab’s
Sign, well,
What to make of it?
Tonight will I attend to
The spider’s behaviour… |
Nakazane
The Seventh Night 七夜
君まして今夜七よになりぬればこれよりちよをかぞふべきかな
kimi mashite
koyoi nanayo ni
narinureba
kore yori chiyo o
kazoubeki kana | Truly, have you
This night your seventh night
Reached, so
Henceforth a thousand generations
Must I count for you! |
Nakazane
The Seventh Night 七夜
しらいとをむすべることぞこよひまでいく万代のかずつもるらん
shira’ito o
musberu koto zo
koyoi made
iku yorozuyo no
kazu tsumoruran | With threads of white
Have you been bound
Up to this night, that
Uncounted myriads of ages
May mount up for you henceforth |
Akinaka
Composed on snow.
霰降りいたく風吹き寒き夜や旗野に今夜我が独り寝む
arare puri
itaku kaze puki
samuki yo ya
patano ni koyopi
wa ga pitori nemu |
Hail falls, and
Fiercely blows the wind,
On this night, so cold;
At Hatano, tonight,
Must I sleep alone? |
A poem composed by the deceased Emperor on the occasion of a visit to the Yoshino Palace.
見吉野乃 山下風之 寒久尓 為當也今夜毛 我獨宿牟
み吉野の山のあらしの寒けくにはたや今夜も我が独り寝む
miyosino no
yama no arasi no
samukeku ni
pata ya koyopi mo
wa ga pitori nemu | Though in fair Yoshino
The storm-winds off the mountains
Feel so chill,
Yet again tonight
Will I sleep alone? |
Emperor Monmu (683-707; r. 697-707)
文武
'Simply moving and elegant'
