On going to a place where women were wont to pick flowers, he later composed this and sent it to one of the ladies who had been there.
山ざくら霞のまよりほのかにも見てし人こそこひしかりけれ
yamazakura
kasumi no ma yori
Fonokani mo
mitesi Fito koso
koFisikarikere |
A mountain cherry
Through the drifting mists
Faintly
Seen thus there is a lady
I long for all the more. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Topic unknown.
世中はかくこそ有りけれ吹く風のめに見ぬ人もこひしかりけり
yo no naka Fa
kaku koso arikere
Fuku kaze no
me ni minu Fito mo
koFisikarikeri |
This world of men
Is such a place:
The gusting wind,
Invisible, as she I’ve never seen
And yet do love. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Topic unknown.
吉野河いは浪たかく行く水のはやくぞ人を思ひそめてし
yosinogaFa
iFa nami takaku
yuku midu no
Fayaku zo Fito wo
omoFisometesi |
At Yoshino River
Waves crash high above the rocks;
The rushing water
Swift as your
Lodging within my thoughts. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Composed at a Suzakuin maidenflower contest, with one of the syllables of wominaFesi at the beginning of each line:
をぐら山みねたちならしなくしかのへにけむ秋をしる人ぞなき
wogura yama
mine tatinarasi
naku sika no
Fenikemu aki wo
siru Fito zo naki |
On Mount Ogura’s
Peak, he is wont to stand:
The belling stag
Has passed many an autumn;
The number? No one can tell. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Rose (saubi)
我はけさうひにぞ見つる花の色をあだなる物といふべかりけり
ware Fa kesa
uFi ni zo mituru
Fana no iro wo
ada naru mono to
iFubekarikeri |
I, this morning,
First set eyes upon
The flowers’ hue
Is fickle indeed-
That’s what I must say! |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Damson Blossoms (sumomo no Fana)
今いくか春しなければうぐひすもものはながめて思ふべらなり
ima iku ka
Faru si nakereba
uguFisu mo
mono Fa nagamete
omoFuberanari |
Now a few days
Of Spring is all that remains, so
Even the bush warbler
Stares into space,
Lost in thought, it seems. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Mountain Cherry Blossoms (kaniFazakura)
かづけども浪のなかにはさぐられで風吹くごとにうきしづむたま
kadukedomo
nami no naka ni Fa
sagurarede
kaze Fuku goto ni
ukisidumu tama |
Though I dip
Within the wave
I cannot search them out:
With the gusting of the wind,
The jewels that rise and sink again! |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Composed on the road, when he was going into the Eastlands.
いとによる物ならなくにわかれぢの心ぼそくもおもほゆるかな
ito ni yoru
mono naranaku ni
wakaredi no
kokorobosoku mo
omoFoyuru kana |
Twisting into thread
Cannot be done with it, yet
This parting path
Runs thinly through my heart,
Or, that’s how it feels, at least. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Composed on parting from someone with whom he had spoken by a rocky spring on the way through the Shiga mountains.
むすぶてのしづくににごる山の井のあかでも人にわかれぬるかな
musubu te no
siduku ni nigoru
yama no wi no
akade mo Fito ni
wakarenuru kana |
From cupped hands
Droplets cloud
The mountain spring-
It’s not enough-as from you
Am I parted. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Composed on parting from someone.
わかれてふ事はいろにもあらなくに心にしみてわびしかるらむ
wakare teFu
koto Fa iro ni mo
aranaku ni
kokoro ni simite
wabisikaruramu |
Parting
Has no hue
And yet
It stains deep within our hearts,
This sorrow. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
'Simply moving and elegant'