Original
あきやまにこころをのみもいるるかなもみぢのいろのふかきまにまに
akiyama ni
kokoro o nomi mo
iruru kana
momiji no iro no
fukaki manimani | By the autumn mountains
My heart, too, is simply
Drawn within!
While the hues of scarlet leaves
Are so deep… |
27
Left
あきやまにいらんこころはなごりなくひとにやみえむもみぢちりなば
akiyama ni
iran kokoro wa
nagori naku
hito ni yamiemu
momiji chirinaba | By the autumn mountains
Drawn—such a heart
Might leave no trace
And such a one might cease to be,
Should the scarlet leaves all scatter… |
28
Right
もみぢするあきにこころのいるひとやあだなることをまづはしるらむ
momijisuru
aki ni kokoro no
iru hito ya
adanaru koto o
mazu wa shiruramu | Scarlet the leaves turn
In autumn—one with a heart
So drawn, that
‘Tis fleeting
Should know first of all! |
29
Original
あしひきのやまぢはあきぞまどひけるつもれるもみぢあとしなければ
ashihiki no
yamaji wa aki zo
madoikeru
tsumoreru momiji
ato shinakereba | Leg-wearying
Mountain paths in autumn
Are lost, indeed!
For piled with scarlet leaves
Traces are their none… |
21
Left (Win)
もみぢばをたむけにつめるあきやまにみちみえずともたれかまどはむ
momijiba o
tamuke ni tsumeru
akiyama ni
michi miezu tomo
tareka madowamu | Scarlet leaves are
An offering made
By the autumn mountains, so
Though the path might go unseen,
Who would lose their way? |
22
Right
あしひきのやまのもみぢしあかからばみちふみわけてたづぬばかりぞ
ashihiki no
yama no momiji shi
akakaraba
michi fumiwakete
tazunu bakari zo | The leg-wearying
Mountains’ scarlet leaves
Are so bright, that
Forging through along the paths
To visit is all you need to do! |
23
Original
あきやまはからくれなゐになりにけりいくしほしぐれふりてそめけむ
akiyama wa
karakurenai ni
narinikeri
iku shio shigure
furite somekemu | The autumn mountains
To Cathay scarlet
Have turned;
How many dippings with drizzle
Have fallen to dye them so? |
9
Left
しぐれつつくれなゐふかくやまのはもあきはてゆけばかひなかりけり
shiguretsutsu
kurenai fukaku
yama no ha mo
aki hateyukeba
kainakarikeri | With every shower
The scarlet deepens
Of the leaves upon the mountain—
With autumn reaching its ending
How pointless that is… |
10
Right
いくしほもしぐれはふらじさほひめのふかくそめたるいろとこそみれ
iku shio mo
shigure wa furaji
saohime no
fukaku sometaru
iro to koso mire | No matter how many dippings
With drizzle fall,
Princess Sao’s
Deeply dyed
Hues we see! |
11
The End of Autumn
Left
あきやまはからくれなゐになりにけりいくしほしぐれふりてそめけむ
akiyama wa
karakurenai ni
narinikeri
iku shioshigure
furitesomekemu | The autumn mountains
To Cathay scarlet
Have turned;
How many dippings with drizzle
Have fallen to dye them so? |
15
Right (Win)
さほやまのははそのもみぢうすけれどあきはふかくもなりにけるかな
saoyama no
hahaso no momiji
usukeredo
aki wa fukaku mo
narinikeru kana | On Sao Mountain
The oak trees autumn leaves
Are pale in hue, yet
Most deep has autumn
Become! |
Korenori
16
Left
あき山に恋する鹿の声たてて鳴きぞしぬべき君がこぬよは
akiyama ni
koisuru shika no
koe tatete
naki zo shinubeki
kimi ga konu yo wa | In the autumn mountains
A loving stag
Cries out,
I could die from weeping
On nights you fail to come to call… |
116[1]
Right
契りけむ心ぞつらき七夕の年にひとたびあふは逢ふかは
chigiriken
kokoro zo tsuraki
tanabata no
toshi ni hito tabi
au wa au ka wa | The vow
Of a pitiless heart:
The Weaver Maid,
But once a year
Will meet; can it be true? |
Fujiwara no Okikaze
117[2]
[1] Shokukokinshū XII: 1194/Shinsen man’yōshū 119
[2] Kokinshū IV: 178/Shinsen man’yōshū 460/Kokin rokujō I: 143
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
あき山に恋する鹿の声たてて鳴きぞしぬべき君がこぬよは
akiyama ni
koisuru shika no
koe tatete
naki zo shinubeki
kimi ga konu yo wa | In the autumn mountains
A loving stag
Cries out,
I could die from weeping
On nights you fail to come to call… |
Anonymous
ひぐらしのなくあき山をこえくればことぞともなくものぞかなしき[1]
higurashi no
naku aki yama o
koekureba
koto zo tomonaku
mono zo kanashiki | The sundown cicadas
Sing in the autumn mountains
Passing by,
Everything is somehow
All the more sad… |
17
あきののとなりぞしにける草むらの見るひごとにもまさるつゆかな
aki no no to
nari zo shinikeru
kusamura no
miru hi goto ni mo
masaru tsuyu kana | The autumn fields
Have all turned to
Tangled clumps of grass—
Every day I sight them,
How finer is the dewfall! |
18
[1] This poem was included in two later anthologies: Fubokuwakashu (6015) and Shūfū wakashū 秋風和歌集 (307).
Autumn Mountains 秋山
をの山に朝たつ鹿も声たてて秋のあはれはしのばざりけり
onoyama ni
asa tatsu shika mo
koe tatete
aki no aware wa
shinobazarikeri | In Onoyama
Even the stags rising in the morn
Cry out;
The sorrows of autumn
I would not recall. |
Daishin
Autumn Mountains 秋山
紅葉ばのくれなゐふかき秋山に心をそめておもひぬるかな
momijiba no
kurenai fukaki
akiyama ni
kokoro o somete
omoinuru kana | The turning leaves’
Scarlet in the depths of
The autumn mountains
Has dyed my heart and
Completely filled my thoughts! |
Higo
Autumn Mountains 秋山
いそぐたびうしとは人に見えつらん月待ちいづる秋の山のは
isogu tabi
ushi to wa hito ni
mietsuran
tsuki matchi’izuru
aki no yama no ha | On a hurried journey
How heartless to folk
Must appear,
Awaiting moonrise,
The mountains’ edge in autumn… |
Kanemasa
'Simply moving and elegant'
