Topic unknown.
岩根踏み重なる山はなけれども逢はぬ日数を恋や渡らん
iFane Fumi
kasanaru yama Fa
nakeredomo
aFanu Fi kazu wo
koFi ya wataran |
Crag trodden
Layered mountains
Are there none, yet
Over the number of days we meet not
I wonder, will our love span? |
The Elder Maiden of Sakanoue
坂上郎女
A poem by the Elder Maiden of Sakanoue.
暇なみ来まさぬ君に霍公鳥我れかく恋ふと行きて告げこそ
itoma nami
kimasanu kimi ni
pototogisu
are kaku kopu to
yukite tuge koso |
Lacking leisure
My lord comes not;
O, cuckoo!
That I do love him so
Would you go and tell him? |
[One of] two poems sent by Lady Ōtomo of Sakanoue to her daughter, the Elder Maiden, from her estate at Taketa.
うち渡す武田の原に鳴く鶴の閒なく時なし我が戀ふらくは
utiwatasu
taketa nö para ni
naku tadu nö
ma naku töki nasi
a ga kopuraku pa |
Gazing out across
The field at Taketa,
The calling of the cranes
Is constant
As is my love. |
夜のほどろ出でつつ來らくたび數多くなれば我が胸切り燒くごとし
yo nö podörö
idetutu kuraku
tabi maneku
nareba a ga mune
kiri yaku götösi |
In the night just touched by dawn
I’ve left
So many times
My breast
Seems cut and burnt. |
夜のほどろ我が出でて來れば我妹子が思へりしくし面影に見ゆ
yo nö podörö
wa ga idete kureba
wagimoko ga
omoperisiku si
omokagë ni miyu |
In the night just touched by dawn
As I leave
My darling
Stays sunk in thought
Writ plain upon her face. |
相見てはしましも戀はなぎむかと思へどいよよ戀ひまさりけり
apimite pa
simasi mo kopï pa
nagimu ka tö
omopedö iyöyö
kopimasarikeri |
Having met you
For a while my love
Would ease
Or so I thought, but even
Stronger is my love. |
かくばかり面影にのみ思ほえばいかにかもせむ人目繁くて
kaku bakari
omokagë ni nömï
omopoeba
ika ni ka mo semu
pitömë sigëkute |
When all
I have is a memory
To dwell upon
What am I to do,
Surrounded by prying eyes? |
相見ては幾日も經ぬをここだくもくるひにくるひ思ほゆるかも
apimite pa
ikuka mo penu wo
köködaku mo
kurupi ni kurupi
omopoyuru ka mo |
Since we met
But a few days have passed:
So why more strongly
Blindly, madly
Do I yearn for you? |
思ひ絶えわびにしものを中々に何か苦しく相見そめけむ
omopi tae
wabi ni si monö wo
nakanaka ni
nani ka kurusiku
apimisomekemu |
I was resigned
And suffering,
Yet rashly
And still in pain
Did I start to meet you. |
夢にだに見えばこそあらめかくばかり見えずしあるは戀ひて死ねとか
ime ni dani
mieba kösö arame
kaku bakari
miezu si aru pa
kopite sine tö ka |
At least in dreams
Did I see you;
Now even that
Is lost to me
Should I die of love, then? |
'Simply moving and elegant'