Amongst some poems of reminiscences.
とくみのりきくのしらつゆよるはをきてつとめてきえんことをしぞおもふ
| toku minori kiku no shiratsuyu yoru wa okite tsutomete kien koto o shi zo omou |
The Law teaches that White dewdrops on chrysanthemums (Listen) Fall at night (Arise from slumber) And vanish with the dawn (Go to prayer, all will die)– That is what I feel. |
Former Abbot Jien
慈円
When he was composing poems on the twelve names of Amida, he composed this on the spirit of Chie (Wisdom).
侘び人の心の中をよそながら知るやさとりの光なるらむ
| wabibito no kokoro no uti wo yoso nagara siru ya satori no Fikari naruran |
In desolation, a man Within his heart – Though afar – Sees enlightenment’s Gleam, perhaps? |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
At a time when there was a reading of the Lotus Sutra at the Bodai Temple and she had gone to hear it, she heard from someone asking her to return home quickly, so she composed:
求めてもかゝる蓮の露をおきてうき世に又は歸る物かは
| motomete mo kakaru Fatisu no tuyu wo okite uki yo ni mata Fa kaFeru mono ka Fa |
Even being asked, Faced with such a lotus – Dew-dropped – should I abandon it And once again to the world of pain Return? |
Sei Shōnagon
清少納言
渡る日の影に競ひて尋ねてな淸きその道またもあはむため
| wataru pi nö kagë ni kipopite tadunete na kiyoki sono miti mata mo apamu tame |
Against the coursing sun’s Light striving I will search Out the pure Way, So that we might meet again. |
Two poems composed when lying in sickness, saddened by the ephemerality of life, and desiring to follow the Way.
うつせみは數なき身なり山川のさやけき見つつ道を尋ねな
| utusemi pa kazu naki mï nari yama kapa nö sayakëki mitutu miti wo tadune na |
This world of ours Is but a passing thing. A moutain stream’s Clean purity in my gaze, I would find the Way. |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi