Sent to a lady’s house.
あづまぢのさのの舟ばしかけてのみおもひわたるをしる人のなさ
| adumadi no sano no Funabasi kakete nomi omoFiwataru wo siru Fito no nasa | On eastern roads At Sano, the pontoon bridge Simply stretches out; That she is ever in my thoughts— There’s no one knows at all… |
Lord Minamoto no Hitoshi
Topic unknown.
かげろふに見しばかりにやはま千どり行衛もしらぬ恋にまどはん
| kagerFu ni misi bakari ni ya Famatidori yukuwe mo siranu koFi ni madoFan | Is it that as if through haze Simply did I see her? As a plover on the beach, Bound I know not where, Am I lost in love. |
Lord Hitoshi
From among twenty poems he presented to a certain Chamberlain, wishing His Majesty to see them, during the same reign when he was serving in the Banqueting Section of the Royal Table Office and grieving that he was falling into obscurity.
いづことも春のひかりはわかなくにまだみよしのの山は雪ふる
| iduko tomo Faru no Fikari Fa wakanaku ni mada miyosino no yama Fa yuki Furu | Everywhere should fall The light of spring Without exception, yet Still in fair Yoshino’s Mountains snow is falling. |
Mitsune
When, due to a confidential matter, he became unable to meet with a woman he had finally become able to see, he sent this.
あふさかの木のした露にぬれしよりわが衣手はいつもかわかず
| aFusaka no ko no sitaduyu ni nuresi yori wa ga koromode Fa itumo kawakazu | Meeting Hill’s Trees drip dewdrops and Have soaked me, so My sleeves Never will be dry. |
Lord Kanesuke
Taira no Sadafun had been conversing with a lady at the residence of Major Counsellor Kunitsune in great secrecy and matters had progressed to the point that they had vowed to be with each other to the end, when the lady was abruptly welcomed into the residence of the late Grand Minister, so he had no way at all of even exchanging letters with her; thus, when the lady’s five year old child was playing in the western wing of the minister’s mansion, Sadafun called her over and saying, ‘Show this to your mother,’ wrote this on her upper arm.
むかしせしわがかねごとのかなしきはいかにちぎりしなごりなるらん
| mukasi sesi wa ga kanegoto no kanasiki Fa ika ni tigirisi nagorinaruran | Long ago did I promise, but Might the sadness Of how I did once vow Be my only keepsake? |
Taira no Sadafun
When he was sent a set of hunting robes from the residence of a woman he had been visiting secretly, he wrote this on the pattern of the hunting garb.
あふことはとほ山ずりのかりころもきてはかひなきねをのみぞなく
| aFu koto Fa toFoyamazuri no karikoromo kite Fa kaFinaki ne o nomi zo naku | Meeting her: Distant mountains pattern My hunting garb: Donning it is pointless, so My sobs do simply fall. |
Prince Motoyoshi
Prince Motoyoshi lived with the daughter of Lord Kanemori, but she was summoned by the Cloistered Emperor and, while she was in service to him, he was unable to meet her, so at the beginning of the year in springtime, he took a branch of cherry blossom, and left it thrust through the doorway of her chamber.
花のいろはむかしながらにみし人の心のみこそうつろひにけれ
| Fana no iro Fa mukasi nagara ni misi Fito no kokoro nomi koso uturoFinikere | The hues of this blossom are Just as long ago, when She I saw them with has Her heart, indeed, Moved elsewhere! |
Prince Motoyoshi
When he participated in an archery display, during the reign of the Jōgan emperor [Seiwa].
けふ桜しづくにわが身いざぬれむかごめにさそふ風のこぬまに
| keFu sakura siduku ni wa ga mi iza nuremu kagome ni sasoFu kaze no konu ma ni | Today let cherry blossom Droplets my body Drench! For the scented Breeze has yet to blow… |
The Kawara Minister of the Left
[Minamoto no Tōru 源融 (822-895)]
