Left
ひぐらしに秋の野山をわけくれば心にもあらぬ錦をぞきる
| higurashi ni aki no noyama o wakekureba kokoro ni mo aranu nishiki o zo kiru | When at sundown Through the autumn mountain meadows I come forging, Lying not within my heart, Brocade I am, indeed, cutting! |
84
Right
秋といへばあま雲までにもえにしを空さへしるくなどか見ゆらん
| aki to ieba amagumo made ni moenishi o sora sae shiruku nado ka miyuran | ‘Autumn’ is when Even as far as heaven’s clouds Have burned, but Why does the sky Seem so clear? |
85
Left
おく山に紅葉ふみわけ鳴く鹿の声きく時ぞ秋はかなしき
| okuyama ni momiji fumiwake naku shika no koe kiku toki zo aki wa kanashiki | Deep within the mountains Forging through the scarlet leaves When a belling stag’s Cry I hear, indeed, Autumn is so sad. |
82
Right
わがために来る秋にしもあらなくに虫の音聞けば先ぞかなしき
| wa ga tame ni kuru aki ni shimo aranaku ni mushi no ne kikeba saki zo kanashiki | Not for my sake Has autumn come And yet, When the insects’ cries I hear What lies ahead is sad, indeed. |
83
Left
我のみやあはれとおもはむきりぎりす鳴く夕かげのやまとなでしこ
| ware nomi ya aware to omowan kirigirisu naku yūkage no yamato nadeshiko | Is it only I Who loves it so? Crickets Chirping in the evening shadows On the wild pinks. |
Sosei
80[1]
Right
秋の野の草はいととはみえなくにおく白露の玉とつらなる
| aki no no no kusa wa ito to wa mienaku ni oku shiratsuyu no tama to tsuranaru | In the autumn meadows The grasses, threads Do not appear to be, yet The fallen silver dewdrop Gems are strung upon them. |
Tsurayuki
81
[1] Kokinshū IV: 244
Autumn Poems Twenty Rounds
Left
あき風に初雁がねぞ響くなるたが玉章をかけて来つらむ
| akikaze ni hatsukari ga ne zo hibikunaru ta ga tamazusa o kaketekitsuramu | The autumn wind With the first goose calls does Echo Whose jewelled missives Have they come bearing, I wonder? |
Tomonori
78
Right
浦ちかくたつ秋霧はもしほやく煙とのみぞ見え渡りける
| ura chikaku tatsu akigiri wa moshio yaku keburi to nomi zo miewatarikeru | Close by the bay Rising autumn mist, as Seaweed salt burning Smoke simply Appears everywhere. |
79[1]
[1] Gosenshū VI: 273/Shinsen man’yōshū 325/Kokin rokujō I: 652
Left
夏草も夜の間は露にいこふらむ常にこがるる我ぞかなしき
| natsukusa mo yo no ma wa tsuyu ni ikouramu tsune ni kogaruru ware zo kanashiki | Upon the summer grasses Throughout the night do dewdrops Seem to rest, and Ever smouldering, I feel sad, indeed! |
76
Right
ながめつつ人まつをりによぶこ鳥いづかたへとか立ちかへりなく
| nagametsutsu hito matsu ori ni yobukodori izukata e to ka tachikaerinaku | Always I gaze out While waiting for him; O, songbird! Whither are you bound? Trilling back and forth… |
77
Left
夏の月ひかりをしまず照る時はながるる水にかげろふぞたつ
| natsu no tsuki hikari o shimazu teru toki wa nagaruru mizu ni kagerō zo tatsu | When summer moon’s Light lightly Shines From the running waters Haze arises! |
74
Right
琴の音にひびきかよへる松風はしらべても鳴く蝉の声かな
| koto no ne ni hibikikayoeru matsukaze wa shirabetemo naku semi no koe kana | A zither’s strains Echoing back and forth: The wind through the pines, In tune with the cries In the cicadas’ song! |
75[1]
[1] Shinshūishū III: 303/Shinsen man’yōshū 73/Kokin rokujō I: 398/Fubokushō IX: 3584
Left
おしなべて五月のそらを見渡せば草葉も水もみどりなりけり
| oshinabete satsuki no sora o miwataseba kusaba mo mizu mo midori narikeri | When the entire Fifth Month sky I gaze across, Blades of grass and water, too, Are green. |
72[1]
Right
くるるかとみれば明けぬる夏の夜をあかずとや鳴く山郭公
| kururu ka to mireba akenuru natsu no yo o akazu to ya naku yamahototogisu | Did you think ’twas sunset? When a glance would show the breaking dawn Of this summer night- Unsated by your song, do you sing on, Cuckoo in the mountains? |
73[2]
[1] Shinchokusenshū III: 152/Kokin rokujō I: 89
[1] Kokinshū III: 157, attributed to Mibu no Tadamine/Shinsen man’yōshū 57/Kokin rokujō VI: 4437
Left
なつの日のくるるもしらず鳴く蝉をとひもしてしか何ごとかうき
| natsu no hi no kururu mo shirazu naku semi o toi mo shiteshika nani goto ka uki | Of the summer sun’s Setting unaware are The singing cicadas: Had I but asked them of it, What would they despise? |
70
Right
あやめ草いくらの五月あひくらむ来る年毎にわかく見ゆらむ
| ayamegusa ikura no satsuki aikuramu kuru toshigoto ni wakaku miyuramu | O, sweet flags! In how many Fifth Months Have you come to meet me? With every turning year You seem younger to me! |
71
Left
夏の日を天雲しばしかくさなむぬるほどもなく明くる夜にせん
| natsu no hi o amagumo shibashi kakusanamu nuru hodo mo naku akuru yo ni sen | The summer sun is Briefly by heaven’s clouds Concealed! No time to sleep in The bright night they’ve made! |
68
Right
郭公なきつる夏の山辺にはくつていださぬ人やすむらむ
| hototogisu nakitsuru natsu no yamabe ni wa kutsute idasanu hito ya sumuramu | A cuckoo Singing in summer On the mountainside: Does a man who will not reveal The price of shoes live there? |
69
Left
いつの間に花かれにけむながくだにありせば夏のかげとみましを
| itsu no ma ni hana karenikemu nagaku dani ariseba natsu no kage to mimashi o | In an instant The blossoms seems to wither! If but longer They were here, summer’s Shape I would see in them… |
66
Right
幾千たび鳴きかへるらむ足引の山ほととぎす声はわすれて
| ikuchi tabi nakikaeruramu ashihiki no yamahototogisu koe wa wasurete | How many thousand times, Does he return to sing? The leg-wearying Mountain cuckoo, Forgetting his song… |
67