In reply (by Middle Captain Michitsuna, or Michinobu)
ほとゝぎすなくべき枝と見ゆれどもまたるゝものはうぐひすの聲
Fototogisu
nakubeki eda to
miyuredomo
mataruru mono Fa
uguFisu no kowe |
Cuckoos
From this branch should call
Or so it seems, yet
What we await is
A warbler’s cry. |
Warbler
鶯のをのが羽風も吹きとぢていかにこほれる涙なるらむ
uguisu no
ono ga hakaze mo
fukitojite
ika ni kōreru
namida naruramu |
The warbler
With his own wings a breath of wind
Stirs not;
How frozen
His tears must be… |
武士や鶯に迄つかはるる
samurai ya
uguisu ni made
tsukawaruru |
The samurai
Even have the warblers
Dancing attendance on them! |
On bush warblers.
うぐひすや梅踏こぼす糊盥
uguisu ya
ume fumikobosu
nori darai |
The warblers have
Scattered plum petals around
The starching tub. |
On bush warblers.
うぐひすの啼やちいさき口明て
uguisu no
naku ya chiisaki
kuchi aite |
The warbler
Sings, its little
Beak open wide. |
On an old bush warbler.
うぐひすや竹の子籔に老を鳴
uguisu ya
take no ko yabu ni
oi o naku |
The bush warbler
From within a fresh bamboo grove,
Sings his aged song. |
(1694)
On bush warblers.
鶯や柳のうしろ藪のまへ
uguisu ya
yanagi no ushiro
yabu no mae |
The warblers call
From beyond the willow trees and
Before the bamboo grove. |
(1692)
Plum.
ふるゆきにいろまどはせるむめの花うぐひすのみやわきてしのばん
furu yuki ni
iro madowaseru
mume no hana
uguisu nomi ya
wakite shinoban |
The falling snow’s
Shade is as that of
The plum blossom;
The warbler, alone,
Can truly tell one from the other, perhaps. |
The Suga Posthumous Grand Minister [Sugawara no Michizane]
菅原道真
On the bush warbler.
たにふかみ春のひかりのをそければ雪につゝめる鶯の聲
tani fukami
haru no hikari no
osokereba
yuki ni tsutsumeru
uguisu no koe |
Deep within this valley
The light of spring
Comes late, so
‘Tis buried ‘neath the snow:
The bush-warbler’s song. |
The Suga Posthumous Grand Minister [Sugawara no Michizane]
菅原道真
As a spring poem:
あづさゆみはる山ちかくいゑゐしてたえずきゝつる鶯のこゑ
azusayumi
haru yama chikaku
ie ishite
taezu kikituru
uguisu no koe |
A catalpa bow
Drawn – the mountains in springtime, nearby
I dwell,
Hearing endlessly
The warbler’s song. |
Yamabe no Akahito
山部赤人
'Simply moving and elegant'