Boats 船
水あさみ川せの波はたつものをくだすう舟のみつや何なる
mizu asami
kawase no nami wa
tatsu mono o
kudasu ubune no
mitsu ya ika naru | How shallow the waters in
The river rapids where waves
Arise –
What will become of the cormorant boats, sailing down
If they be full? |
Tadafusa
夜をかさね戸無瀬の方に見ゆる火は鵜舟に灯すか篝なりけり
yo o kasane
tonase no kata ni
miyuru hi wa
ubune ni tomosu
kagari narikeri |
Night upon night
Towards Tonase
Can I see the lights;
Kindled upon the cormorant boats
Are torches. |
大堰川鵜舟の手縄うちはへて夜な夜な瀬せをすみかとぞする
ōikawa
ubune no tanawa
uchihaete
yonayona sese o
sumika to zo suru |
Upon the River Ōi
The cormorant boats’ hawsers
Are tangled;
Night after night upon the rapids
Do they make their dwelling. |
鵜舟さしよるはよるはと幾夜かはよとのわたりをおりのぼるらむ
ubune sashi
yoruwa yoruwa to
ikuyo kawa
yoto no watari o
orinoboruramu |
The cormorant boats head
Out at midnight and
Every night the river’s
Evening sounds cross with
Their rise and fall… |
篝火の見えぬ夜ぞなき大堰川おなじ鵜舟やおりのぼるらむ
kagaribi no
mienu yo zo naki
ōikawa
onaji ubune ya
orinoboruramu |
Torches
Never go unseen at night
On the River Ōi:
Is it always the same cormorant boat
That plies back and forth? |
Fujiwara no Tametada (? – 1136)
藤原為忠
まよふべき契りぞ深き鵜飼舟この夜も月のいるをまちける
mayoubeki
chigiri zo fukaki
ukaibune
kono yo mo tsuki no
iri o machikeru |
Complicated, indeed,
Are their lasting bonds:
The cormorant boats
On this night, too, moon
Set do await… |
Cormorant Fishing on the River(鵜河)
大井河う舟にともすかがり火のかかる世にあふあゆぞはかなき
ōigawa
ubune ni tomosu
kagaribi no
kakaru se ni au
ayu zo hakanaki | On the River Ōi
The cormorant boats’ kindled
Torches
Reflect off the rushing rapids;
What sorrow for the sweetfish! |
Daishin
Cormorant Fishing on the River (鵜河)
かひのぼるう舟のなはのしげければせぶしのあゆの行かたやなき
kainoboru
ubune no nawa no
shigekereba
sebushi no ayu no
yuku kata ya naki | Heading upstream
The cormorant boats’ hawsers
Are so many that
Sweetfish through the rapids
Have no path to take! |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
'Simply moving and elegant'