From the Later Hundred Poem Sequence from the Reign of Former Emperor Horikawa.
たかせぶねのぼるほりえのみづあさみみくさがくれにかはづなくなり
takasebune
noboru horie no
mizu asami
mikusagakure ni
kawazu nakunari | Skips
Ascend the canal’s
Shallow waters;
Hidden deep within the grasses,
The frogs are singing. |
Fujiwara no Akinaka
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Tōin Empress.
ひとたびもこひしとおもふにくるしきはこころぞちぢにくだくべらなる
hitotabi mo
koishi to omou ni
kurushiki wa
kokoro zo chiji ni
kudakuberanaru | Briefly
Did I love you, I feel, then
The pain
My heart a thousand, thousandfold
Did surely shatter. |
Anonymous
A poem from the Poetry Contest in One Hundred Rounds held by the Tōin Empress.
なつのよもしもやおけると見るまでにあれたるやどをてらすつきかな
natsu no yo no
shimo ya okeru to
miru made ni
aretaru yado o
terasu tsuki kana | Upon a summer night
That frost has fallen
It does appear at
A ruined dwelling where
The moon does shine! |
Anonymous
Composed on Love after Parting during the reign of Former Emperor Nijō (1143-1165; r. 1158-1165).
水無瀬川流れてとこそ思ひしかこはいかにしてたえはじめけむ
minasegawa
nagarete to koso
omoishi ka
ko wa ika ni shite
taehajimekemu | The River Minase
Rapidly runs – did
I think that once?
Now what am I to do
That our parting has begun? |
Minister of Justice [Fujiwara no] Norikane
刑部卿範兼
On the conception of Love on a First Meeting.
いまよりも心ながさを頼まなむつらきをだにも恨みやはせし
ima yori mo
kokoro nagasa o
tanomanamu
tsuraki o dani mo
urami ya wa seshi | From now
On your faithfulness
Will I rely!
Or your cruelty –
Will that be what I despise? |
Senior Assistant Governor General of Dazai [Fujiwara no] Shige’ie
太宰大弐重家
(1128-1181)
On Love on Meeting.
もの思ひは今朝こそまされつらかりしことは事にもあらぬなりけり
mono’omoi wa
kesa koso masare
tsurakarishi
koto wa koto ni mo
aranu narikeri | My thoughts do
Entirely overwhelm me this morning;
For all that was hard to bear,
All those things are
Quite gone! |
Koben
小弁
On the conception of love despised.
恨みじと思ふ思ひのともすればもとの心にかへりぬるかな
uramiji to
omou omoi no
tomo sureba
moto no kokoro ni
kaerinuru kana |
I would not despise her
I have thought so many times,
Yet somehow
To my first feelings
I have returned. |
Fujiwara no Tadamichi
藤原忠通
見ても思ひ見捨ても思ふ大方は我が身ひとつや物思ひの山
mitemo omoi
misutemo omou
ōkata wa
wa ga mi hitotsu ya
mono’omoi no yama |
I see you, and you are in my thoughts
You neglect me, and I think on you;
Why, overall,
Is it only me who has
Mountains of gloomy thought? |
Anonymous
'Simply moving and elegant'