をのづからとふがほなりし荻の葉もかれがれになる風の寒けさ
onozukara
tougao narishi
ogi no ha mo
karegare ni naru
kaze no samukesa |
Of itself
Has it paid a visit to
The leaves of silver grass;
All withered have they become,
In the chill of the wind. |
神無月時雨飛び分行く雁のつばさ吹干す峰の木枯
kaminazuki
shigure tobiwake
yuku kari no
tsubasa fukihosu
mine no kogarashi |
In the Godless Month, it
Drizzles upon the passing
Geese;
Wings blown dry by
The biting wind atop the peaks. |
霜枯は尾花踏み分行く鹿の聲こそ聞かぬ跡は見えけり
shimogare wa
obana fumiwake
yuku shika no
koe koso kikanu
ato wa miekeri |
Frost-seared
Miscanthus grass, pushed aside by
A stag:
I cannot hear his call, yet
Here are his tracks. |
冬くれば庭の蓬も下晴れて枯葉の上に月ぞさえ行
fuyu kureba
niwa no yomogi mo
shitaharete
kareba no ue ni
tsuki zo saeyuku |
When the winter comes,
From the mugwort in my garden
The growth clears away, and
Upon the withered leaves,
Clearly falls the moonlight. |
見し世にもあらぬ袂のあはれとやをのれしほれてとふ時雨かな
mishi yo ni mo
aranu tamoto no
aware to ya
onore shiorete
tou shigure kana |
In the world that once I knew
Were there no sleeves
As sad as these?
Dejected am I, as
Upon me the drizzling rains come calling. |
よもすがら鳴くや淺茅の蛬はかなく暮るゝ秋を惜しみて
yomosugara
naku ya asaji no
kirigirisu
hakanaku kururu
aki o oshimite |
All night long
Among the sparsely growing reeds, sing
The crickets:
The fleeting fall
Of autumn, regretting… |
山もとの里のしるべの薄紅葉よそにもおしき夕風かな
yamamoto no
sato no shirube no
usumomiji
yoso ni mo oshiki
yū kaze kana |
In the foothills is
My dwelling, its signet
Pale scarlet leaves;
How others, too, do regret,
The gusting evening wind. |
頼みこし人の心は秋更て蓬が杣にうづら鳴くなり
tanomikoshi
hito no kokoro wa
aki fukete
yomogi ga soma ni
uzura nakunari |
I trusted him to come, but
His heart
Grew sated in the deepening autumn;
In mugwort, thick as planted timber,
The quails are cheeping. |
ぬれて干す山路の菊もある物を苔の袂はかはくまぞなき
nurete hosu
yamaji no kiku mo
aru mono o
koke no tamoto wa
kawaku ma zo naki |
‘Drying myself, drenched
On mountain paths by chrysanthemums’
Is all very well, but
My sleeves of moss
Are not dry for even a moment! |
同じくは桐の落葉も降りしけな拂ふ人なき秋のまがきに
onajiku wa
kiri no ochiba mo
furishikena
harau hito naki
aki no magaki ni |
All is the same:
The drooping paulownia leaves
May as well fall
For there is no to sweep them from
My brushwood fence this autumn. |
'Simply moving and elegant'