Cranes in a garden (庭上鶴馴)
Left
庭の面に人になれたるあしたづはよはひをきみにゆづるなるべし
niwa no omo ni
hito ni naretaru
ashitazu wa
yowai o kimi ni
yuzurunarubeshi | Upon this garden’s face stands,
Accustomed to folk,
A crane;
His years to my Lord
Will he bestow, no doubt! |
A Court Lady
31
Right
千とせふるやどのけしきやしるからん汀のたづのなれにけるかな
chitose furu
yado no keshiki ya
shirukaran
migiwa no tazu no
narenikeru kana | Is it that a thousand years old
This dwelling does appear?
For to the muddy
Water’s edge the cranes
Have become accustomed! |
A Court Lady
32
Pine seedlings on the Day of the Rat (子日小松)
Left
ねの日する松の葉ごとにかぞふれば猶ぞつきせぬきみが千とせは
ne no hi suru
matsu no ha goto ni
kazoureba
nao zo tsukisenu
kimi ga chitose wa | On this Day of the Rat
Every single pine needle
I count, but
Still the number would not exhaust
The millennia of my Lord… |
A Court Lady
1
Right
はるかなる君がよはひにくらべむと子日の松をけふは引くかな
harukanaru
kimi ga yowai ni
kurabemu to
ne no hi no matsu o
kyō wa hiku kana | Distant is
My Lord’s age:
To what might it compare? Why
The Rat Day pines that
We pick today! |
A Court Lady
2
The Seventh Night 七夜
つるの子のちとせをふべきはじめとは七日よりこそ祝ひ初めけれ
tsuru no ko no
chitose o fubeki
hajime to wa
nanuka yori koso
iwaisomekere | A crane chick
Shall through a thousand years pass;
The beginning is
From this seventh day, for sure, as
We begin our celebration! |
Daishin
The Seventh Night 七夜
ちとせふる祝の松のつるの子はけふすをたちて七夜なりけり
chitose furu
iwai no matsu no
tsuru no ko wa
kyō su o tachite
nanayo narikeri | Ageing for a thousand years,
A celebratory pine is where
A crane chick has
Today made her nest and
Reached her seventh night. |
Higo
Sakaki 榊
しもおけど色もかはらぬさかきばは君がちとせのかざしなりけり
shimo okedo
iro mo kawaranu
sakakiba wa
kimi ga chitose no
kazashi narikeri | Frost falls, yet
Unchanged are the hues of
Leaves upon the sacred tree:
For my Lord a thousand years of
Decoration will they be! |
Nakazane
New Year’s Day
よきことをますみの鏡今日見ればかねて千年のかげぞうかべる
yoki koto o
masumi no kagami
kyō mireba
kanete chitose no
kage zo ukaberu | When pleasant things
In the clearest of glasses
Today I see,
Already a thousand years’
Sights have floated there… |
Higo
The Ninth Day of the Ninth Month
をるきくの露にぬれたるけふよりやちとせの秋にあはむとすらん
oru kiku no
tsuyu ni nuretaru
kyō yori ya
chitose no aki ni
awamu to suran | Picked chrysanthemums’
Dew dampens us
Today – will we
For a thousand years of autumns
Decide to meet together? |
Higo, from the Residence of the Kyōgoku Regent
京極関白家肥後
The Ninth Day of the Ninth Month
けふごとに菊を薬とする人はちとせのなかは過ぐといふなり
kyō goto ni
kiku o kusuri to
suru hito wa
chitose no naka wa
sugu to iu nari | Every year today
Chrysanthemums for medicine
Do people take, that
A thousand years together
And more will they have, they say. |
Minamoto no Nakazane
源仲実
'Simply moving and elegant'