Left
かくをしむあきにしあはばをみなへしうつろふことはわすれやはせぬ
kaku oshimu
aki ni shi awaba
ominaeshi
utsurou koto wa
wasure ya wa senu | If feeling such regret
I should encounter autumn, then
O, maidenflower,
To fade
You should not forget, should you? |
11
Right
ながきよにたれたのめけむをみなへしひとまつむしのえだごとになく
nagaki yo ni
tare tanomekemu
ominaeshi
hito matsumushi no
edagoto ni naku | On a long, long night
Who is it has made you believe,
O, maidenflower?
Pining for him while crickets
Cry from your every branch… |
12[1]
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 536; Fubokushō 4231
Left
神無月しぐれふるらしさほ山の正木のかづら色まさりゆく
kaminazuki
shigure fururashi
saoyama no
masaki no kazura
iro masarikeri | In the Godless Month
Showers fall, it seems, for
On Sao Mountain
The evergreen arrowroot’s
Hues are fine, indeed. |
125[1]
Right
冬くれば梅に雪こそ降りかかれいづれのえをか花とはをらむ
fuyu kureba
mume ni yuki koso
furikakare
izure no e o ka
hana to wa oramu | When the winter comes
Upon the plum tree, truly, does snow
Fall and cling;
From which branch, I wonder
Should I pick the blossom? |
126
[1] Shinkokinshū VI: 574
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Empress Dowager during the reign of the Kanpyō emperor.
吹風や春立ち来ぬと告げつらん枝にこもれる花咲きにけり
Fuku kaze ya
Faru tatikinu to
tuketuran
eda ni komoreru
Fana sakinikeri | Is it the blowing breeze that
Spring’s arrival does
Announce?
For once tightly closed upon the branch
Blossom has bloomed. |
Anonymous
Felicitations 賀
つきもせぬ君がよはひはいくちよとかぎれる竹の枝にやあるらん
tsuki mo senu
kimi ga yowai wa
iku chiyo to
kagireru take no
eda ni ya aruran | Inexhaustible is
My Lord’s age:
How many thousand generations
Limit it – a bamboo
Branch might know! |
Daishin
Felicitations 賀
我が君をいはひこめつつ竹の枝ちよとちぎるはうれしかりけり
wa ga kimi o
iwaikometsutsu
take no eda
chiyo to chigiru wa
ureshikarikeri | For My Lord
While deep in celebration
Upon a branch of bamboo
‘Live a thousand generations!’ I vow –
What joy! |
Higo
Groves 原
枝ごとにいくそのちよをちぎるらんその神世よりいきの松源
eda goto ni
iku sono chiyo o
chigiruran
sono kamiyo yori
iki no matsubara | In every single branch
Does live the thousand-generation
Vow, perhaps?
Enduring since the Age of Gods,
The sacred pine groves of Iki. |
Higo
Composed on seeing cherry blossom flowing along the stream in the grounds of the Palace of the Crown Prince.
枝よりもあだにちりにし花なればおちても水の泡とこそなれ
eda yori mo
ada ni tirinisi
Fana nareba
otitemo midu no
awa to koso nare | From the branch
Have simply scattered
These blossoms, so they are
Fallen, yet the waters’
Foam have they become. |
Sugano no Takayo
The Iwashimizu Special Festival (石清水臨時祭)
山水のながれにうかふ松が枝にかざしの藤をかけてこそみれ
yamamizu no
nagare ni ukabu
matsu ga e ni
kazashi no fuji o
kakete koso mire | Upon a mountain stream’s
Swift flow floats
A branch of pine
Adornments of wisteria
Seen dangling there… |
Akinaka
On blossom.
春日野に咲きたる萩は片枝はいまだふふめり言な絶えそね
kasugano ni
sakitaru pagi pa
kataeda pa
imada pupumeri
koto na tae so ne |
On Kasuga Plain
Blooms bush clover;
One branch is
Yet in bud, it seems;
Let its words cease not! |
Anonymous
梅が枝の花のねくらば荒れ果てて桜にうつる鶯の声
ume ga e no
hana no nekuraba
arehatete
sakura ni utsuru
uguisu no koe |
A branch of plum
Blossoms was his roost,
All completely ruined now;
To the cherry has shifted
The warbler’s song. |
'Simply moving and elegant'