Topic unknown.
月見ばと契をきてしふるさとの人もやこよひ袖ぬらすらん
tsuki miba to
chigiri okiteshi
furusato no
hito mo ya koyoi
sode nurasuran | ‘When we see the moon…’
We made our vow;
Left at home
Does she, too, on this night
Have soaking sleeves, I wonder? |
The Monk Saigyō
西行
Topic unknown.
宮こにて月をあはれとおもひしはかずにもあらぬすさびなりけり
miyako nite
tsuki o aware to
omoishi wa
kazu ni mo aranu
susabi narikeri |
When the capital,
The moon moved me
I thought;
What a trivial
Diversion, that was! |
The Monk Saigyō
西行
Topic unknown.
まつしまやをじまのいそにあさりせしあまのそでこそかくはぬれしか
matusima ya
wozima no iso ni
asarisesi
ama no sode koso
kaku Fa nuresika | At Matsushima
On Ojima’s rocky shore
Fished
The diver folk: their sleeves
As drenched as mine. |
Minamoto no Shigeyuki
A travel poem for a fifty poem sequence composed for the Monk-Prince Shukaku.
たちかへり又もきて見ん松島やをじまのとまや浪にあらすな
tachi kaeri
mata mo kite min
matsushima ya
ojima no tomaya
nami ni arasu na |
Rising, falling, leaving, departing
To come once again to see
In Matsushima,
Ojima where my hut-
I would not have the wave wash it away. |
Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office Toshinari
藤原俊成
Topic unknown.
夏かりのたまえのあしをふみしだきむれゐる鳥のたつ空ぞなき
natukari no
tamae no asi wo
Fumisidaki
murewiru tori no
tatu sora zo naki |
Reaped in summer
The reeds of Tamae
Lie trampled all around
For the flocking birds
Cannot take wing into this sky. |
Minamoto no Shigeyuki
A travel poem for a fifty poem sequence composed for the Monk-Prince Shukaku.
なつかりのあしのかりねもあはれなりたまえの月のあけがたの空
natsukari no
ashi no karine mo
aware nari
tamae no tsuki ni
akegata no sora |
Reaped in summer are
The reeds for my brief night’s sleep:
’ Tis sad, indeed:
The moon at Tamae
In the dawning sky. |
Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office Toshinari
Topic unknown.
あづまぢのさやのなか山さやかにも見えぬ雲ゐによをやつくさん
azumaji no
saya no nakayama
sayaka ni mo
mienu kumoi ni
yo o ya tsukusan |
On the Eastland roads
Lies Nakayama in Saya;
Not clearly at all
Can I see through the clouds –
I wonder, will I leave the world? |
Mibu no Tadamine
壬生忠岑
Topic unknown.
白雲のたなびきわたるあしびきの山のかけはしけふやこえなん
shira kumo no
tanabiki wataru
ashihiki no
yama no kakehashi
kyō ya koenan |
Clouds of white
Trail between the
Leg-wearying
Mountains-brief bridges:
Will I pass over them today, I wonder? |
Tsurayuki
貫之
A poem from a folding screen in the Engi period.
草まくらゆふ風さむくなりにけり衣うつなるやどやからまし
kusamakura
yukaze samuku
narinikeri
koromo utsu naru
yado ya karamashi |
Pillowed on grass,
The evening wind grows chiller
Still;
With the sound of fulling clothes
Shall I, perhaps, find lodging? |
Tsurayuki
貫之
While at Utsu Mountain in Suruga, he thought of someone he had been meeting and sent this to the capital.
するがなるうつの山邊のうつゝにも夢にも人にあはぬなりけり
suruga naru
utsu no yamabe no
utsutsu ni mo
yume ni mo hito ni
awanu narikeri | In Suruga
At the Utsu mountains
In truth and
In my dreams she
Is nowhere to be seen… |
Ariwara no Narihira
在原業平
'Simply moving and elegant'
