A poem from a folding screen in the Engi period.
ゆふだすきちとせをかけてあしびきの山あゐのいろはかはらざりけり
yūdasuki
chi tose o kakete
ashihiki no
yama ai no iro wa
kawarazarikeri |
Sacred mulberry cord
Hung for a thousand years;
Leg-wearying
Indigo hue
Will never fade. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Composed for the picture of picking new herbs on a folding screen for the celebrations of the sixtieth birthday of Emperor Uda.
わかなおふるのべといふのべを君がためよろづよしめてつまんとぞ思
wakana ôru
nobe to iu nobe o
kimi ga tame
yorozu yo shimete
tsuman to zo omou |
New herbs grow
Within the fields-called so
For my Lord’s sake
Across ten thousand years
We will pick them, I feel. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Topic unknown.
君がよのとしのかずをばしろたへのはまのまさごとたれかしきけん
kimi ga yo no
toshi no kazu o ba
shirotae no
hama no masago to
tare ka shikiken |
My Lord’s reign
Shall for its sum of years
Mulberry cloth white
Sand grains upon the beach have;
Who was it spread them there, I wonder? |
Tsurayuki
貫之
On receiving tribute and seeing the richness of His land.
たかきやにのぼりて見ればけぶりたつたみのかまどはにぎはひにけり
takaki ya ni
noborite mireba
keburi tatsu
tami no kamado wa
nigiwainikeri |
To my palace heights
I climb and when I gaze across
Smoke rises-
The homes of my people
Are rich, indeed. |
Emperor Nintoku
When she presented a hundred poem sequence:
ひかずふる雪げにまさるすみがまのけぶりもさむし大原のさと
hi kazu furu
yukige ni masaru
sumigama no
keburi mo samushi
ōhara no sato |
Day after passing day
The snow-sign has grown stronger above
The charcoal kilns
The very smoke is chill
In the village of Ōhara. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
His reply:
いまぞきく心はあともなかりけり雪かきわけておもひやれども
ima zo kiku
kokoro wa ato mo
nakarikeri
yuki kakiwakete
omoiyaredomo |
Only now, do I see, that
The heart, a dint
Leaves not;
Though forging through the snows
Do go my thoughts… |
The Gotokudaiji Minister of the Left [Fujiwara no Sanesada (1139-1191)]
Sent to [his nephew] the Gotokudaiji Minister of the Left on a snowy morning.
けふはもし君もやとふとながむれどまだあともなき庭の雪哉
kyō wa moshi
kimi mo ya tou to
nagamuredo
mada ato mo naki
niwa no yuki kana |
Today, perhaps,
You might come to call,
I wonder, gazing at
The yet undinted
Snow upon my garden. |
Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office Toshinari
藤原俊成
Composed on the spirit of the year’s end by the seashore, at the home of the Tsuchimikado Grand Minister (Minamoto no Michichika (1149-1202)).
おいのなみこえける身こそあはれなれことしも今はすゑの松山
oi no nami
koekeru mi koso
awarenare
kotoshi mo ima wa
sue no matsuyama |
Eld in waves
Doth break upon my breast, and
I am sorrow-struck, indeed;
For this year, now is the
End, the peak of Matsuyama. |
The Monk Jakuren
寂蓮
In a hundred poem sequence:
さむしろのよはの衣手さえさえてはつ雪しろしをかのべの松
samushiro no
yowa no koromode
saesaete
hatsuyuki shiroshi
oka no be no matsu | Alone in my meagre bedding,
My nightgown’s sleeves
Are deeply chill, indeed;
The first snows lie white
Upon the pines along the hillside. |
Princess Shokushi
式子内親王
Topic unknown.
よにふればうさこそまされみ吉野の岩のかけ道ふみならしてむ
yo ni Fureba
usa koso masare
miyosino no
iFa no kakemiti
Fuminarasitemu |
Living in this world
Brings only an excess of grief;
Upon fair Yoshino’s
Steep and rocky trails
Would I set my feet. |
Anonymous
'Simply moving and elegant'
