When the gentlemen and ladies of the household of the Minister of the Left were getting dressed for a coming-of-age ceremony.
大原やをしほの山のこまつ原はや木高かれ千代の影みむ
oFoFara ya
wosiFo no yama no
komatubara
haya ko takakare
tiyo no kage mimu |
At Ōhara,
On Oshio Mountain
The young pine saplings
Will grow swiftly into mighty trees and
See a thousand generations pass! |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
A poem from Michinoku.
みさぶらひ御笠と申せ宮木野の木の下露は雨にまされり
misaburaFi
mikasa to mause
miyagino no
ko no sita tuyu Fa
ame ni masareri |
O Attendant!
“A umbrella, my Lord?” do say, for
On Miyagi plain
Beneath the trees, the dew
Far exceeds the rain! |
Falling Leaves
激しさのみ山颪は手もなきにいかで木の葉をこき散らすらむ
hageshisa no
miyamaoroshi wa
te mo naki ni
ikade ko no ha o
kokichirasuramu |
Wild is
The wind from out the mountains:
With no hands
How does it the leaves from off the trees
Seem to scatter all around? |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
Falling Leaves
宿に敷く錦を見ればうれしくてさすかに木の葉散らば惜しまる
yado ni shiku
nishiki o mireba
ureshikute
sasuga ni ko no ha
chiraba oshimaru |
Spread around my house,
I gaze upon the brocade,
And am pleased;
Indeed, if the leaves from the trees
Fall, it is a pleasure! |
Minamoto no Akinaka
源顕仲
薄く濃く木々の梢は見ゆれども柞の色の身にも染むかな
usuku koku
kigi no kozue wa
miyuredomo
hahaso no iro no
mi ni mo shimu kana |
First faint, then clearly
The trees’ tops
Do I see, yet
It is the oaks’ hues
That pierce me most! |
Topic unknown.
下紅葉ひと葉づゝちる木のもとに秋と覺ゆる蝉の聲かな
sita momidi
Fa Fito zutu tiru
ko no moto ni
aki to oboyuru
semi no kowe kana |
Under scarlet leaves
Falling one by one
Below the trees
I get the sense of autumn
From the cicadas’ song. |
Sagami
夏衣薄きかひなく秋待てば木の下風のやまず吹かなむ
natugoromo
usuki kaFinaku
aki mateba
ko no sitakaze no
yamazu Fukanamu |
My summer garb is
Thin, but to no effect, so
I will wait for autumn, then
Beneath the trees the breezes
Will blow ceaselessly! |
いざさらは木の下道はよきてゆかむ嵐に絶へぬしづりひまなし
iza saraba
ko no shitamichi wa
yokite yukamu
arashi ni taenu
shizuri hima nashi |
So, then, so be it!
The path beneath the trees
I’ll avoid, as I go
For unable to stand the storm,
There’s no space between bent branches! |
木の間よりなびく夕日のほどもなし嵐に吹雪く小夜の中山
ko no ma yori
nabiku yūhi no
hodo mo nashi
arashi ni fubuku
sayo no nakayama |
From between the trees
The evening sun tries to stream
But finds no space;
Wind-blown by the storms is
Sayo-no-Nakayama. |
Ietaka
Composed on being told of someone being delayed by the blossom in the mountains.
斧の柯は木のもとにてや朽ちなまし春を限らぬ桜なりせば
wono no e Fa
ko no moto nite ya
kutinamasi
Faru o kagiranu
sakura nariseba |
Would his axe handle
Beneath the trees
Rot away, I wonder,
Were in seasons other than spring
The cherries to bloom? |
Ōnakatomi no Kin’naga (1071-1138)
大中臣公長
'Simply moving and elegant'