難波潟鶴ぞ鳴くなるこれやこの田蓑の島のわたりなるらむ
naniFagata
tadu zo nakunaru
kore ya kono
tamino no sima no
watari naruramu |
At the shore of Naniwa
The cranes are crying;
Is it true that
Tamino Isle
Does lie nearby? |
Minamoto no Moroyori
源師頼
On clothing.
橡の衣は人皆事なしと言ひし時より着欲しく思ほゆ
turubami no
kinu pa pito mina
koto nasi to
ipisi toki yori
kiposiki omopoyu |
An oak-dyed
Robe, so all
Say is fine –
Since then
I would wear one, I feel. |
橡の衣の色はかはらねど一重になればめづらしき哉
turubami no
koromo no iro Fa
kaFarenedo
FitoFe ni nareba
medurasiki kana |
An oak-dyed
Robe’s shade
Does never change, yet
When but a single layer has it become,
How rare it is, indeed! |
Minamoto no Akinaka
源顕仲
On parting from love.
しばしとてひがふる衣の後手にとりぞへらるる黒髪も憂し
shibashi tote
hi ga furuginu no
ushirode ni
tori zo heraruru
kurokami mo ushi |
Swiftly
Pass the days – across a worn out robe’s
Back
Pass birds, while
Black tresses bring only sorrow. |
Shōtetsu
正徹
On thinking sad thoughts.
古衣打棄つる人は秋風の立ちくる時に物思ふものぞ
purugoromo
ututuru pito pa
akikaze no
tatikuru toki ni
mono’omopu mono zo |
As a worn-out robe
Did he abandon me;
Now the autumn wind’s
Time to rise has come
Sunk is he in sorry thought! |
春霞とひわけいぬる声聞きて狩衣なりとほかはいふらむ
Farugasumi
toFiwake inuru
kowe kikite
kariginu nari to
Foka Fa iFuramu |
Through the haze of spring
Comes questioning
A voice I hear,
“In hunting garb,”
Seems the reply… |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Topic unknown.
ちちわくに人はいふともおりてきむわかはた物に白き麻衣
titiwaku ni
Fito Fa iFu tomo
orite kimu
wa ga Fatamono ni
siroki asaginu |
At any rate
Folk do say,
Weave it, and we’ll try it on –
Lying on my loom,
A white coat of hemp! |
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
柿本人麻呂
今年行く新防人が麻衣肩のまよひは誰れか取り見む
kotosi yuku
niisima-mori ga
asagoromo
kata no mayopi pa
tare ka torimimu |
This year will I go there, but
The warden of Niishima’s
Hempen coat:
Should the shoulders fray,
Who might mend them for me? |
夏なれど山は寒しといふなるにこの皮衣ぞ風は防がむ
natu naredo
yama Fa samusi to
iFu naru ni
kono kaFaginu zo
kaze Fa Fusegamu |
Summer, it is, yet
The moutains are chill,
They say, so
With this coat of fur
Will I ward off the wind! |
A poem presented to Prince Osakabe, composed on viewing the image of a sage.
とこしへに夏冬行けや裘扇放たぬ山に住む人
tokosipe ni
natu puyu yuke ya
kapagoromo
apugi patanu
yama ni sumu pito |
Not eternally,
As summer and winter’s passage, yet
His coat of fur, and
Fan, never will he release
This mountain-dwelling man… |
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
柿本人麻呂歌集
'Simply moving and elegant'