Waterweed.
水のうへによるべさだめぬうきくさもこの花かれて思ふべらなり
mizu no ue ni
yorube sadamenu
ukikusa mo
kono hana karete
omouberanari | Atop the water
With no place to rest
Drifts the waterweed, too—
That this bloom will wither:
I can think no other… |
Round Twelve
Left
冬の夜の月はとほくやわたりけんかげみしみづのまづしこほれば
fuyu no yo no
tsuki wa tōku ya
watariken
kage mishi mizu no
mazu shi kōreba | On a winter’s night
Does the moon distantly
Pass by? For
The waters where I saw its face
Are the first to freeze… |
22
Right
ながれくるみづこほりぬる冬さへやなほうき草のあとはさだめぬ
nagarekuru
mizu kōrinuru
fuyu sae ya
nao ukikusa no
ato wa sadamenu | Flowing down
The waters have frozen
With the winter, so will
The drifting waterweed still
Leave little trace? |
23
Waterweed 萍
うき草のうき世の中としりながらのがれもやらぬ我ぞかなしき
ukikusa no
ukiyo no naka to
shirinagara
nogare mo yaranu
ware zo kanashiki | A waterweed
This cruel, transient world
Knows well;
With no way to escape it,
Sunk in sadness am I… |
Daishin
Waterweed 萍
世の中は水のうへなるうき草のうきにたへたる身をいかにせん
yo no naka wa
mizu no uenaru
ukikusa no
uki ni taetaru
mi o ikani sen | In this mundane world
Atop the waters lies
A waterweed –
In endless misery,
O, what am I to do? |
Higo
Waterweed 萍
ふる河のとだえをわたるたび人のもすそにあをくつける萍
furukawa no
todae o wataru
tabibito no
mosuso ni aoku
tsukeru ukikusa | An ancient river’s
Broken bridge a’crossing goes
A traveller,
Her skirt-hem greenly
Gripped by waterweed… |
Kanemasa
Waterweed 萍
池のおもにうゑぬにおふるうき草はなみやよるよる種をまきけん
ike no omo ni
uenu ni ouru
ukikusa wa
nami ya yoruyoru
tane o makiken | Upon the surface of the pond,
Not planted but growing are
The waterweeds –
Do the waves, washing back and forth
Sow their seeds, perhaps? |
Tadafusa
Waterweed 萍
かきやればたぎちながるるうき草も世をはやくして過ぎぬべらなり
kakiyareba
tagichi nagaruru
ukikusa mo
yo o hayakushite
suginuberanari | Dragged this way and that, by
Rapidly flowing races,
For a waterweed, too,
The world so swiftly
Must pass by. |
Toshiyori
Waterweed 萍
水の上によるべさだめぬうき草のよそへられぬる我が身なりけり
mizu no ue ni
yorube sadamenu
ukikusa no
yosoerarenuru
wa ga mi narikeri | Upon the water,
With no hope of haven,
A waterweed is
How I imagine
Myself to be. |
Nakazane
Waterweed 萍
涙川みなとにうかぶうき草のうきねとどめむかたのなきかな
namidagawa
minato ni ukabu
ukikusa no
ukine todomemu
kata no naki kana | On the river of tears lies
A harbour where floats
A waterweed –
To bring a halt to sorrowful, solitary sleep is
There no way at all! |
Akinaka
Composed as a love poem when a hundred poem sequence was presented to former Emperor Sutoku.
恋をのみ菅田の池に水草ゐてすまでやみなむ名こそ惜しけれ
koFi wo nomi
sugata no ike ni
mikusa wite
sumade yaminamu
na koso woshikere |
Our love is simply
Form – Sugata Pond
Fills with waterweed, and
Grows stagnant – such an ending
Leaves only regret… |
Ikuhōmon’in no Aki
郁芳門院安芸
This poem is also Kyūan hyakushu 1266.
'Simply moving and elegant'