行く年の行へをとへば世中の人こそひとつまうくべらなれ[i]
yuku toshi no
yukue o toeba
yo no naka no
hito koso hitotsu
mōkuberanari | When, of the departing year’s
Destination I enquire,
To this mundane world’s
Folk, indeed, one more
Does it bestow. |
407
ちぶさすふまだいとけなきみどりごとともになきぬる年のくれかな
chibusa suu
mada itokenaki
midorigo to
tomo ni nakinuru
toshi no kure kana | Suckling at his mother’s breast,
With a yet innocent
Babe
Do I weep
At the ending of the year! |
406
うば玉のこのよなあけそしばしばもまだふるとしのうちぞとおもはん
ubatama no
kono yo na ake so
shibashiba mo
mada furu toshi no
uchi zo to omowan | Black as lily seeds,
This night I would not have dawn!
For a little while
That still in the old year I linger,
I would believe… |
405
おいらくのかしらの雪をとどめきてはかなのとしや暮れて行くらん
oiraku no
kashira no yuki o
todomekite
hakana no toshi ya
kureteyukuran | Marked by age
Upon my head snow
Lingers—
Does the year as briefly
Fade into twilight? |
403
かづらきや雲をこだかみ雪しろしあはれとぞ思ふ年の暮れぬる
kazuragi ya
kumo o kodakami
yuki shiroshi
aware to zo omou
toshi no kurenuru | In Kazuragi,
In clouds upon the trees, so tall,
White is the snow—
How sad it is, I feel,
As the year draws to its end. |
402
しら雪のふるの山なる杉村のすぐる程なきとしのくれかな
shirayuki no
furu no yama naru
sugimura no
suguru hodo naki
toshi no kure kana | Snow so white
Falls on Furu Mountain’s
Cypress groves—
In no time at all is past
The ending of the year! |
401
もののふのやそうぢ川を行く水のながれてはやきとしのくれかな
mononofu no
yaso ujigawa o
yuku mizu no
nagararete hayaki
toshi kure kana | As warriors’
Arrows the Uji River’s
Rushing waters
Flow so fast—
As the ending of the year! |
400
とりもあへずはかなく暮れて行く年のしばしとどむる関守もがな
tori mo aezu
hakanaku kurete
yuku toshi no
shibashi todomuru
sekimori kana | Before I knew it
So briefly is ending
The parting year—
To hold it here a while,
If only there were a barrier warder! |
399
老いぬればとしのくれゆくたびごとにわが身ひとつをおもほゆるかな
oinureba
toshi no kureyuku
tabi goto ni
wagami hitotsu o
omohoyuru kana | I have grown old, so
As the year dwindles into dusk
Every single time
That it’s for me alone,
I feel! |
395
Left – Bur Reed
あきのこむとしのををのみくりかへしかぞへてうゑん草のいろいろ
aki no komu
toshi no o o nomi
kurikaeshi
kazoete uemu
kusa no iroiro | Autumn will come
To the ending of the year, simply,
Time and time again,
Counting them will I plant
A variety of grasses… |
20
This poem is an acrostic, with ‘bur reed’ (mikuri) contained in nomi kurikaeshi.
Right – Missing
'Simply moving and elegant'
