When His Majesty commanded a poem, during the reign of the Engi emperor.
しら露をかぜの吹きしくあきののはつらぬきとめぬ玉ぞちりける
| siratuyo wo kaze no Fukisiku aki no no Fa tsuranuki tomenu tama zo tirikeru | Silver dewdrops, In the ever-blowing wind Across the autumn meadows Never remaining threaded are Those scattered gemstones. |
Fun’ya no Asayasu
Sent to a woman.
名にしおはばあふさか山のさねかづら人にしられでくるよしもがな
| na ni si oFaba aFusakayama no sanekadura Fito ni sirarede kuru yosi mogana | If the name fits, then As Meeting Mount’s Twining kadsura vine, Without others finding out, I wish I had a way to come to you! |
The Sanjō Minister of the Right
When he had gone to Michinoku as Governor, on seeing that one of the pines at Takekuma had withered, had a sapling planted to replace it; on returning to the same province later, after finishing his posting, he saw the tree he had planted once more.
栽ゑし時契りやしけんたけくまの松をふたたびあひみつるかな
| uwesi toki tigiri ya siken takekuma no matu wo Futatabi aFimituru kana | When I planted you, Did I make a vow, perhaps? That Takekuma’s Pine once more I would encounter!’ |
Lord Fujiwara no Motoyoshi
藤原元善
Gazing at the blossom, on a night when the moon was particularly charming.
あたら夜の月と花とをおなじくはあはれしれらむ人にみせばや
| atarayo no tuki to Fana to wo onaziku Fa aFare sireramu Fito ni miseba ya | This fresh night’s Moon and blossom, too, Are both same: If only to one whose feelings are profound I could show them… |
Minamoto no Sane’akira
Sent to the Minister of the Left.
ありしだにうかりしものをあかずとていづくにそふるつらさなるらん
| arisi dani ukarisi mono wo akazu tote iduku ni soFuru turasa naruran | Even these past days Heartlessness is something I want more—saying that, then Where might you lay on Additional cruelty? |
Nakatsukasa
Sent when her affair with Taira no Kaneki was finally coming to an end.
秋かぜの吹くにつけてもとはぬかなをぎの葉ならばおとはしてまし
| akikaze no Fuku ni tuketemo toFanu kana ogi no Fa naraba woto Fa sitemasi | ‘I’ve had enough!’—the autumn wind Might reveal with a gust, but It pays no visit here! Were I a frond of silver grass A rustle I would have it make. |
Nakatsukasa
When a man had not visited for a long time.
とふことをまつに月日はこゆるぎのいそにやいでて今はうらみん
| toFu koto wo matu ni tukiFi Fa koyurugi no iso ni idete ya keFu Fa uramin | For a visit I have waited days, months And more, so to Koyurugi’s Rocky shore should I go out And gaze with hatred at the beach? |
Ukon
When a man she had been seeing had failed to visit for a long time, she sent him this in the Longest Month.
おほかたのあきのそらだにかなしきにものおもひそふ昨日今日かな
| oFokata no aki no sora dani kanasiki ni mono’omoFisoFu kinoFu keFu kana | As ever, Even the autumn sky’s Sadness is Overlaid with gloomy thoughts Today, and the day before! |
Ukon
When the Nishi-shijō Ise Virgin[1] was still a princess, while there were some tender feelings between them, it was decided that she should become Ise Virgin,[2] so at dawn on the following day, he had this sent to her, attached to a branch of sakaki.
伊勢のうみの千ひろのはまにひろふともいまはなにてふかひかあるべき
| ise no umi no tiFiro no Fama ni FiroFu to mo ima Fa nani teFu kaFi ka arubeki | By the sea at Ise Across a thousand yards of beach Would I gather them, but Now what use Might be these seashells? |
Lord Atsutada
[1] Imperial Princess Gashi 雅子 (910-954), the tenth daughter of Emperor Daigo.
[2] Gashi was announced as Ise Virgin on the 25th day of the Twelfth Month, Shōhei 承平 1 [4.2.932], dating this poem to 5th February 932.
Sent to a lady named Yamato at the residence of Prince Atsuyoshi.
今さらにおもひいでじとしのぶるをこひしきにこそわすれわびぬれ
| ima sara ni omoFi’idezi to sinoburu wo koFisiki ni koso wasurewabinure | Now it is that I’ll think on you no more, and Endure, but Such strong love is Painful to forget! |
The Minister of the Left
