Around autumn, when someone with whom I had been accustomed to speaking had gone somewhere, I took the opportunity to send these by messenger.
うはの空にみし面影をおもひいでて月になれにし秋ぞ恋しき
uwa no sora ni mishi omokage o omoi’idete tsuki ni narenishi aki zo koishiki
In the heavens’ heights The face that once I saw I do recall, and Accustomed to the moon In autumn do I yearn even more…[i]
609
[i] See: On the conception of ‘love, having once met, but no longer’ for the Poetry Match held at the Poetry Office. ゆめかとよみし面影もちぎりしもわすれずながらうつつならねば yume ka to yo / mishi omokage mo / chigiri shi mo / wasurezu nagara / utsutsu naraneba ‘Was it a dream? Or not? / That face I saw, and / His promises, too, / I cannot forget, / Though real they were not…’ The Daughter of Toshinari, Assistant Master of the Dowager Empress Household Office (Shinkokinshū XV: 1391)
aki mo haya sue no harano ni naku shika no koe kiku toki zo tabi wa kanashiki
Autumn swiftly ends On the plain at Sue, where Belling out, a stag’s Cry I hear—‘tis then that My travels are sad, indeed![i]
577
[i] An allusive variation on: 梓弓 末之腹野尓 鷹田為 君之弓食之 将絶跡念甕屋 azusayumi / sue no harano ni / togarisuru / kimi ga yuzuru no / taemu to omoe ya ‘A catalpa bow / On the plain at Sue / A’hawking— / As your bowstring, / I wonder: will I be able to endure?’ Anonymous (Man’yōshū XI: 2638); and: A poem from the poetry competition at Prince Koresada’s house. おく山に紅葉ふみわけなく鹿のこゑきく時ぞ秋は悲しき okuyama ni / momiji fumiwake / naku shika no / koe kiku toki zo / aki wa kanashiki ‘In the mountains’ heart / Forging through the autumn leaves, / A calling stag: / When I hear his voice I feel, / Autumn is sorrowful, indeed.’ Anonymous (Kokinshū IV: 215)
