On summer trees, when His Majesty, the Former Emperor, ordered him to produce a thirty poem sequence.
虹のたつふもとの杉は雲にきえて峰よりはるるゆふだちのあめ
niji no tatsu fumoto no sugi wa kumo ni kiete mine yori haruru yūdachi no ame | A rainbow rises above Cedars in the foothills, Vanishing in the clouds Clearing from the peaks, With an evening shower of rain. |
Former Senior Assistant Governor General of Dazai Toshikane
Early Evening (晩立)
故郷をたづぬる道にかきくらしむら雲さわぐ夕立のそら
furusato o tazunuru michi ni kakikurashi muragumo sawagu yūdachi no sora | My ancient home Is visited by paths Dragged into darkness by The crowding clouds In a sky of evening showers. |
Higo
Early Evening (晩立)
夕立にをちのみぞ川まさりつつふらぬ里までながれきにけり
yūdachi ni ochi no mizogawa masaritsutsu furanu sato made nagare kinikeri | With the evening showers The distant drainage ditches Are overflowing; All the way to an untouched estate Do they run! |
Kanemasa
Early Evening (晩立)
朝日山さしてきたれど夕立にかづくたもとはひるよしもなし
asahiyama sashite kitaredo yūdachi ni kazuku tamoto wa hiru yoshi mo nashi | Across Asahi Mountain I have made my way, yet Evening shower Drenched sleeves Have no reason to dry. |
Tadafusa
Early Evening (晩立)
夕立はきりにきるともあづさ弓いにいてさへばくれずも有るかな
yūdachi wa kiri ni kirutomo azusayumi ini’ide saeba kurezu mo aru kana | Evening showers Clad in mist, yet When a catalpa bow Emerges to interfere There is no dusk, at all. |
Toshiyori
Early Evening (晩立)
夕立や雲のさわぎに風はやみ露をとどむる草のはぞなき
yūdachi ya kumo no sawagi ni kaze wa yami tsuyu o todomuru kusa no ha zo naki | An evening shower: The clouds confused With the dropping of the wind, and Dewdrops lingering On not a single blade of grass. |
Akinaka
鳴るかみの夕立にこそ雨は降れ御手あら新井洗川の水まさるらし
narukami no
yūdachi ni koso
ame wa fure
mitarashigawa no
mizu masarurashi |
The thunder
Brings an evening shower
Fall of rain:
The Mitarashi River’s
Waters seem high, indeed! |
Nōin
能因
夏の日の俄かに曇る夕立の思ひもかけぬ世にもあるかな
natu no Fi no
niFka ni kumoru
yuFudati no
omoFi mo kakenu
yo ni mo aru kana |
A summer day
Briefly clouded by
An evening shower:
How unexpected
Is this world! |
夕立の雨うち降れば春日野の尾花が上の白露は思ほゆ
yuFudati no
ame utiFureba
kasugano no
wobana ga uFe no
siratuyu Fa omoFoyu |
When evening showers’
Rain does fall,
On the plain at Kasuga
Upon the miscanthus grass
Silver dewfall comes to mind. |
夕立に夏はいぬめりそぼちつつ秋の境にいまやいたらむ
yuFudati ni
natu Fa inumeri
sobotitutu
aki no sakaFi ni
ima ya itaramu |
In an evening shower
Summer seems to leave;
All drenched is
The edge of autumn
Now arrived, indeed! |
'Simply moving and elegant'