KKS XIX: 1006

Composed after the passing of the Shichijō Empress.

沖つ浪 荒れのみまさる 宮の内は 年へて住みし 伊勢の海人も 舟流したる 心地して よらむ方なく かなしきに 涙の色の 紅は 我らが中の 時雨にて 秋のもみぢと 人びとは おのが散りぢり 別れなば たのむかげなく なりはてて とまるものとは 花薄 君なき庭に 群れ立ちて 空をまねかば 初雁の なきわたりつつ よそにこそ見め

oki tu nami
are nomi masaru
miya no uti Fa
tosi Fete sumisi
ise no ama mo
Fune nagasitaru
kokotisite
yoramu kata naku
kanasiki ni
namida no iro no
kurenawi Fa
warera ga naka no
sigure nite
aki no momidi to
Fitobito Fa
ono ga tiridiri
wakarenaba
tanomu kage naku
nariFatete
tomaru mono to Fa
Fanasusuki
kimi naki niwa ni
muretatite
sora wo manekaba
Fatukari no
nakiwataritutu
yoso ni koso mime
The waves in the offing
Are simply wild beyond all measure
Within the palace
The passing years where dwelt
A fisher-girl in Ise
Set adrift within her boat,
That’s how I feel, with
No place to reach
In my grief
My tears’ hue is
Scarlet:
Our connection
Has turned to showers,
With the autumn’s scarlet leaves
Folk all
Scattering everywhere, and
If this is a final parting
Our support is gone and
In the end
Those remaining, as
The fronds of miscanthus
In the grounds without my Lady
Grow in wild abandon, and
If they should beckon to the skies,
The first geese,
Crying as they pass
Might gaze on here from afar…

Ise

SIS XX: 1339

When Lord Tamemasa sponsored a sutra reading at the Fumon Temple, on the following day, everyone departed all together; when she was leaving Ono, she noticed how charming the blossom was and composed:

たき木こる事は昨日につきにしをいざをののえはここにくたさん

takigi koru
koto Fa kinoFu ni
tukinisi wo
iza wono no e Fa
koko ni kutasan
Gathering kindling,
Yesterday
Did you exhaust yourself, but
Will your axe handle
Rot here, I wonder?

The Mother of Master of the Crown Prince’s Household Office Michitsuna

MYS I: 20

A poem composed by Princess Nukata when the emperor went hunting at Kamōno.

茜草指 武良前野逝 標野行 野守者不見哉 君之袖布流

あかねさす紫野行き標野行き野守は見ずや君が袖振る

akane sasu
murasakino yuki
simeno yuki
nomori pa mizu ya
kimi ga sode puru
Shining madder red,
To the violet fields you go,
To the hunting grounds you go, but
Won’t the wardens look askance?
At your waving sleeves…’

Princess Nukata

GSIS VI: 401

Composed on early snow for a palace poetry contest held in Eishō 4 [1049].

みやこにもはつゆきふればをの山のまきのすみがまたきまさるらん

miyako ni mo
Fatuyuki Fureba
wonoyama no
maki no sumigama
takimasaruran
In the capital, too
When the first snow falls
Among Onoyama’s
Evergreens the charcoal kilns
Seem to smoulder more and more.

Sagami

GSS XIV: 1068

When he had not come to call for a very long time, she said this on a morning when a little snow had fallen, around the Tenth Month.

身をつめばあはれとぞ思ふはつ雪のふりぬることもたれにいはまし

mi o tumeba
aFare to zo omoFu
Fatuyuki no
Furinuru koto mo
tare ni iFamashi
When I pinch myself,
I realise how pitiful I am:
Even the first snow’s
Fall—
Who is there that I would tell?

Ukon

MYS XX: 4475

[One of] two poems composed when they assembled at the residence of Junior Secretary of Ceremonial Otomo sukune Ikenushi for a banquet on the 23rd day.

初雪は千重に降りしけ恋ひしくの多かる我れは見つつ偲はむ

patuyuki pa
tipe ni purisiki
kopisiku no
opokaru ware pa
mitutu sinopamu
O, first snows
Fall a thousandfold!
For love
Lies heavy on me, and
Gazing on you, I will remember her…

Ōhara no Imaki