Maidenflowers
Left
あきかぜはふかずもあらなむをみなへししるもしらぬもおもふこころは
akikaze wa
fukazu mo aranamu
ominaeshi
shiru mo shiranu mo
omou kokoro wa | Even should the autumn breeze
Fail to blow,
O, maidenflower, still
Those who know you and know you not,
Would hold you in their hearts… |
Taira no Yasū
5
Right (Win)
をみなへしおひたるのべにふきかかるあきののかぜにみをやそへまし
ominaeshi
oitaru nobe ni
fukikakaru
aki no nokaze ni
mi o ya soemashi | Maidenflowers
Growing in the meadows
Brushed by the blowing
Autumn wind o’er the fields—
O, how I wish it trailed over me, too… |
Tomo no Tadanori
(or in some texts Toshizane)
6
春といひ夏とすぐして秋風の吹上のはまに冬はきにけり
haru to ii
natsu to sugushite
akikaze no
fukiage no hama ni
fuyu wa kinikeri | Spring, they say, then
Spend the summer where
The autumn breeze
Blows up the sand on Fukiage Beach—
Winter has come. |
月みれば衣手さむしさらしなやをばすて山の峰の秋かぜ
tsuki mireba
koromode samushi
sarashina ya
obasuteyama no
mine no akikaze | When I gaze upon the moon
How chill my sleeves
In Sarashina, as
O’er Mount Obasute’s
Peak passes the autumn wind. |
After a large number of people had presented on the voices of the whitecaps in the offing
すみのえのきしの松ふく秋風をたのめて波のよるを待ちける
suminoe no
kishi no matsu fuku
akikaze o
tanomete nami no
yoru o machikeru | At Suminoe’s
Coast the pines blown
By the autumn wind
Expectantly the waves
Approach await. |
秋かぜはややはださむく成りにけりひとりやねなんながきこのよを
akikaze wa
yaya hadasamuku
narinikeri
hitori ya nenan
nagaki kono yo o | The autumn wind has,
Gradually, an icy chill upon my skin
Bestowed, yet
Shall I sleep alone?
All this long night through… |
From among my autumn poems
玉だれのこすのひまもる秋風はいもこひしらに身にぞしみける
tamadare no
kosu no hima moru
akikaze wa
imo koishira ni
mi ni zo shimikeru | Through my blinds’
Gaps damply drifts
The autumn breeze, making
My love for my darling girl
Pierce my flesh more deeply… |
くれかかるゆふべの空をながむればこだかき山に秋風ぞふく
kurekakaru
yūbe no sora o
nagamureba
kodakaki yama ni
akikaze zo fuku | Twilight drapes across
The evening sky
As I gaze up,
Through the trees upon the mountain heights
The autumn wind is blowing. |
きりぎりすなく夕ぐれの秋風に我さへあやな物ぞかなしき
kirigirisu
naku yūgure no
akikaze ni
ware sae ayana
mono zo kanashiki | As the crickets
Cry this evening, with
The autumn wind,
Even I, strangely,
Am struck by the sadness of everything. |
Insects
小ざさ原よはに露吹く秋風をややさむしとや虫のなくらむ
ozasawara
yowa ni tsuyu fuku
akikaze o
yaya samushi to ya
mushi no nakuramu | Across the dwarf-bamboo groves
At midnight upon the dewdrops blows
The autumn wind—
Is it from that slight chill that
The insects do cry so? |
秋風に山とびこゆるはつ雁のつばさにわくるみねの白雲
akikaze ni
yama tobikoyuru
hatsukari no
tsubasa ni wakuru
mine no shirakumo | On the autumn wind,
Flying ‘cross the mountains,
The first geese
Part with their wings
The clouds so white above the peaks. |
'Simply moving and elegant'
