When the Biwa Minister of the Left, having some use for them, requested some oak leaves, and this was sent to the house of his acquaintence, Chikane, to obtain them.
我が宿を何時馴らしてか楢の葉を馴らし顔には折りにをこする
wa ga yado wo
itu narasite ka
nara no Fa wo
narasigaFo ni Fa
wori ni okosuru
With my home
When did you become so familiar?
That leaves of oak
So freely
Do you send to pick!
Toshiko
俊子
草深く荒たる宿の灯火の風にきえぬは蛍なりけり
kusa Fukaku
aretaru yado no
tomosibi no
kaze ni kienu Fa
Fotaru narikeri
Deep within the grasses
A ruined house has
Torches
Not guttering in the breeze:
Fireflies.
忘れ草茂れる宿を来て見れば思ひ軒より生ふるなりけり
wasuregusa
shigereru yado o
kitemireba
omoinoki yori
ouru narikeri
The day-lilies
Are thick around this house
I have come to see;
Beneath the eaves, my thoughts run wild
As the growing plants…
Minamoto no Shunrai
源俊頼
When he visited, after many years, the home of lady with whom he had once been intimate, she composed this, pretending not to know who he was.
杉も杉宿もむかしの宿ながらかはるはひとの心なりけり
sugi mo sugi
yado mo mukashi no
yado nagara
kawaru wa hito no
kokoro narikeri
The cedars and their
Dwelling make my home just as it was
So long ago;
What has changed is my
Heart.
Anonymous
On hearing the frogs .
我宿にあひ宿り宿りしてすむ蛙夜になればやものは悲しき
wa ga yado ni
aFiyadorisite
sumu kaFadu
yoru ni nareba ya
mono Fa kanasiki
At my home
I lodge together with
The frogs dwelling there;
Is it that night has come
That make everything so sad?
Anonymous
When converting the Man’yōshū to Japanese.
独ぬる宿には月の見えざらば恋しき事の数はまさらじ
Fitori nuru
yado ni Fa tuki no
miezaraba
koFisiki koto no
kazu Fa masarazi
Sleeping solo
In this house, if the moon
I could not see,
All my thoughts of love
Would increase in number, wouldn’t they?
Minamoto no Shitagō
徒然と眺めせしまに夏草のあはれや宿にしげりあひにけり
tsuredure to
nagamesesi ma ni
natsu kusa no
aFare ya yado ni
sigeriaFinikeri
In idleness
Have I gazed upon
The summer grasses
How sad that at my house
They grow so lush together!
Topic unknown.
みよしのの山のあなたにやどもがな世のうき時のかくれがにせむ
miyosino no
yama no anata ni
yado mogana
yo no uki toki no
kakurega ni semu
‘On Yoshino
Mountain’s yonder side
I would there were a house!
For when I do despise the world
There would I hide away!
Anonymous
A woman who lived in a rather dilapidated place, when she was feeling alone, picked some violets from her garden and sent them to a man saying:
我が宿にすみれの花の多かれば来宿る人やあると待つかな
a ga yado ni
sumire no Fana no
oFokareba
kiyadoru Fito ya
aru to matu kana
At my home
The violets bloom
In profusion, so
Wondering if you will come to stay
I am awaiting!
Anonymous
Left (Win).
末までといひしばかりに浅茅原宿も我名も朽や果てなん
sue made to
iishi bakari ni
asajibara
yado mo wa ga na mo
kuchi ya hatenan
‘Until the very end,’
You simply said, but
A field of cogon grass
Surrounds my house; my name, too,
Will it wither away…?
A Servant Girl
769
Right.
斧の柄も年経る程は知る物をなど我恋の朽つる世もなき
ono no e mo
toshi heru hodo wa
shiru mono o
nado wa ga koi no
kutsuru yo mo naki
Even my axe handle,
Endures through the passing years,
I know it, but
Why is it that this love
Does not rot from this world?
Jakuren
770
Neither poem has any errors.
In judgement: ‘My house; my name, too’ (yado mo wa ga na mo ) sounds better than ‘Why is it that this love’ (nado wa ga koi ). The Left wins.
Posts navigation
'Simply moving and elegant'