A poem by Kamō, the dancing girl.
雪嶋 巌尓殖有 奈泥之故波 千世尓開奴可 君之挿頭
ゆきのしま いはほにうゑたる なでしこは ちよにさかぬか きみがかざしに
| yuki no sima ipapo ni uwetaru nadesiko pa tiyo ni sakanu ka kimi ga kazasi ni | Snow lies heavy on the garden’s Rocks where grow The pinks: O, won’t you bloom a thousand years? That my Lord may wear you in his hair… |
Composed on the moon.
玉垂之 小簾之間通 独居而 見験無 暮月夜鴨
たまだれの をすのまとほし ひとりゐて みるしるしなき ゆふづくよかも
| tamadare no wosu no matoposi pitori wite miru sirusinaki yupudukuyo kamo | Hung with jewels The blinds’ gaps reveal Me sitting here alone How pointless to be gazing out At the rising moon tonight! |
Anonymous
A poem by Ōtomo no sukune Yakamochi when he arrived at a maiden’s gate.
妹家之 門田乎見跡 打出来之 情毛知久 照月夜鴨
いもがいへの かどたをみむと うちいでこし こころもしるく てるつくよかも
| imo ga ipe no kadota wo mimu to uti’idekosi kokoro mo siruku teru tukuyo kamo | My darling’s house has Rice fields before its door—to see them Have I come, My heart brightened on A shining moonlit night! |
Among poems composed with a character from the Tang poem ‘Looking at my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore’ as its initial sound.[1]
つゆを見てくさばのうへとおもひしはときまつほどのいのちなりけり
| tsuyu o mite kusaba no ue to omoishi wa toki matsu hodo no inochi narikeri | As a dewdrop it appears Resting atop a blade of grass— So I did think; Such a short thing Is life. |
Izumi Shikibu
[1] The kanshi in question appears in Wakan rōeishū (II: 789): 観身岸額離根草 論命江頭不繋舟 ‘Thinking on my life, ‘tis but a rootless grass upon the shore; / Thinking on my fate, ‘tis as uncertain as an unmoored boat upon the bank.’ If read as Japanese, this poem would be: mi o kanzureba kishi no hitai ni ne o hanaretaru kusa / mei o ronzureba e no hotori ni tsunagazaru fune. Izumi Shikibu’s poem links with the initial tsu of tsunagazaru, beginning as it does with tsuyu ‘dew’.
Composed in Settsu.
志長鳥 居名野乎来者 有間山 夕霧立 宿者無而
しながとりゐなのをくればありまやまゆふぎりたちぬやどりはなくて
| sinagatori winano wo kureba arimayama yupugiri tatinu yadori pa nakute | A waterbird’s long cry At Ina plain where I have come, In the Arima Mountains The evening mists have risen, and No lodging is there for me… |
Anonymous
Flames.
君がもるゑじのたくひのひるはたえよるはもえつつ物をこそ思へ
| kimi ga moru wezi no taku Fi no Firu wa tae yoru Fa moetsutsu mono o koso omoFe | My lord stands guard at the Palace, A conscript kindling flames which Dwindle with the daytime, and Ever burn at night: As do I, for love of him. |
On blossom.
鶯之 徃来垣根乃 宇能花之 猒事有哉 君之不来座
うぐひすのかよふかきねのうのはなのうきことあれやきみがきまさぬ
| ugupisu no kayopu kakine no unopana no uki koto are ya kimi ga kimasanu | The warbler Flits around my brushwood fence’s Deutzia blooms— Is there some sad event which Stops my Lord from coming? |
Anonymous
Interrupted by a single night.
いもせ山なかにおひたるたまざさの一よのへだてさもぞ露けき
| imose yama naka ni oitaru tamazasa no hito yo no hedate samo zo tsuyukeki | Upon Imose Mountain Grows Dwarf bamboo, begemmed, With all but a single joint Completely drenched with dew. |
Fujiwara no Nobuzane
