花におく露をしづけみしらすげのまのの萩原しをれあひにけり
hana ni oku
tsuyu o shizukemi
shirasuge no
mano no hagiwara
shioreainikeri | Upon the blossom fallen
Dewdrops bring quiet to
White-sedge covered
Mano’s bush-clover groves,
All drooping together. |
みる人もなくて散りにき時雨のみふりにし里の秋萩のはな
miru hito mo
nakute chiriniki
shigure nomi
furinishi sato no
akihagi no hana | To see there was
No one as it scattered
With a simple shower
Falling on the ancient estate,
Autumn’s bush clover blooms. |
Composed on bush-clover.
秋はぎの下葉もいまだうつろはぬに今朝吹く風は袂すずしも
akihagi no
shitaba mo imada
utsurowanu ni
kesa fuku kaze wa
tamoto suzushimo | The autumn bush-clover’s
Under-leaves have yet
To fade, though
The breeze blowing this morning
Was cool upon my sleeves. |
Blossoming grasses.
のべに出でてそほちにけりなから衣きつつ分けゆく花のしづくに
nobe ni idete
sōchinikeri na
karakoromo
kitsutsu wakeyuku
hana no shizuku ni | Heading out into the meadows
How damp has become
My Cathay robe
As I forge ever onward
Through the droplets on the blossom. |
Composed when I was in one of the aisles of the Shōchōjuin on the night of the 14th of the Seventh Month, and the moon was shining in.
ながめやる軒のしのぶの露の間にいたくなふけそ秋のよの月
nagameyaru
noki no shinobu no
tsuyu no ma ni
itaku na fuke so
aki no yo no tsuki | Gazing out upon
The ferns beneath the eaves,
In the space between the dewdrops,
Do not set so,
O, moon, this autumn night! |
秋風に夜のふけゆけば久かたの天のかはらに月かたぶきぬ
akikaze ni
yo no fukeyukeba
hisakata no
ama no kawara ni
tsuki katabukinu | With the autumn breeze
The night wears on, so
Toward eternal
Heaven’s riverside
The moon is setting. |
A night when the moon had been bright at the beginning of autumn
天の原雲なきよゐに久かたの月さえわたるかささぎの橋
ama no hara
kumo naki yoi ni
hisakata no
tsuki saewataru
kasasagi no hashi | At the plain of Heaven,
On a cloudless night
The eternal
Moon shines chill upon
A bridge of magpie wings. |
いまはしもわかれもすらし棚機のあまの河原にたづぞ鳴くなる
ima wa shimo
wakare mo surashi
tanabata no
ama no kawara ni
tazu zo nakunaru | Now, above all painful
Parting does seem to be for
The Weaver Maid
On Heaven’s riverside
The cranes are a’crying. |
たなばたの別ををしみ天河やすのわたりにたづもなかなん
tanabata no
wakare o oshimi
ama no kawa
yasu no watari ni
tazu mo nakanan | The Weaver Maid
Her parting does regret
On the River of Heaven
At Yasu crossing,
O, cranes, cry, too! |
恋恋ひてまれにあふよの天のがは川せのたづはなかずもあらなん
koigoite
mare ni au yo no
ama no gawa
kawase no tazu wa
nakazu mo aranan | Ever in love, yet
Meeting but rarely, tonight
On the River of Heaven’s
Rapids, O, cranes,
Won’t you cease your cries? |
'Simply moving and elegant'
