A hut among the rice-fields in autumn
山田もるいほにしをればあさなあさなたえずききつる棹鹿の声
yamada moru
io ni shi oreba
asana asana
taezu kiktsuru
saoshika no koe | When warding mountain paddies,
In a hut am I,
Each and every morning
Ceaselessly I heard
The belling of the stags. |
Stags in the evening
鳴くしかのこゑより袖におくかつゆ物おもふ比の秋のゆふぐれ
naku shika no
koe yori sode ni
oku ka tsuyu
mono’omou koro no
aki no yūgure | Is it the belling stag’s
Cry that upon my sleeves
Drops dewdrops?
Sunk in gloomy thought now
On an autumn evening… |
秋はぎのむかしの露に袖ぬれてふるき籬に鹿ぞ鳴くなる
akihagi no
mukashi no tsuyu ni
sode nurete
furuki magaki ni
shika zo nakunaru | Upon the autumn bush-clover
The dewfall of bygone days does
Soak my sleeve, as
By the ruins of a lattice fence
A stag bells out! |
あさなあさな露にをれふす秋はぎの花ふみしだき鹿ぞなくなる
asana asana
tsuyu ni orefusu
akihagi no
hana fumishidaki
shika zo nakunaru | Each and every single morn
The dewfall burdens to breaking
The autumn bush clover
Blooms, crushed under foot by
The belling stags. |
萩がはなうつろひ行けば高砂の尾上の鹿のなかぬ日ぞなき
hagi ga hana
utsuroiyukeba
takasago no
onoe no shika no
nakanu hi zo naki | As the bush-clover blooms
Are fading away,
On Takasago’s
Peak, a stag
Fails to cry on not a single day. |
さをしかのおのがすむのの女郎花花にあかずとねをや鳴くらん
saoshika no
ono ga sumu no no
ominaeshi
hana ni akazu to
ne o ya nakuran | Might the stag,
In the meadow where he does dwell,
By the maidenflower
Blooms be so unsatisfied that
He should cry out so? |
朝まだきをのの露霜さむければ秋をつらしと鹿ぞ鳴くなる
asa madaki
ono no tsuyujimo
samukereba
aki o tsurashi to
shika zo nakunaru | In the early morn
The meadows’ frosted dew
Is cold, so
At the cruelty of autumn
A stag bells out! |
さよふくるままにと山の木の間よりさそふか月をひとり鳴くなる
sayo fukuru
mama ni toyama no
ko no ma yori
sasou ka tsuki o
hitori nakunaru | While brief night falls
In the nearby mountains
From among the trees,
Inviting the moon, perhaps,
Comes a solitary cry. |
月をのみあはれと思ふをさよ更けてみ山がくれに鹿ぞなくなる
tsuki o nomi
aware to omou o
sayo fukete
miyamagakure ni
shika zo nakunaru | With the moon but
A feeling has
Brief night fallen, as
Hidden in the mountain’s depths
A stag bells out. |
雲のゐるこずゑはるかに霧こめてたかしの山に鹿ぞなくなる
kumo no iru
kozue haruka ni
kiri komete
takashi no yama ni
shika zo nakunaru | From within the cloud-covered,
Distant treetops,
Wrapped by mists
Upon Takashi Mountain,
A stag is belling! |
'Simply moving and elegant'
