On fireflies.
己が火を木々の螢や花の宿
ono ga hi o
kigi no hotaru ya
hana no yado |
With their own fires
Do the fireflies among the trees
Make them a flowered bower? |
(1690-91)
On fireflies.
此ほたる田ごとのつきにくらべみん
kono hotaru
tagoto no tsuki ni
kurabemin |
These fireflies
To the autumn moon above the rice-fields
Do compare. |
(1688)
Topic unknown.
はるゝよのほしかゝはべの螢かもわがすむかたのあまのたくひか
haruru yo no
hoshi ka kawabe no
hotaru kamo
wa ga sumu kata no
ama no taku hi ka |
On this fine night,
Are those stars? Or, by the riverbank
Fireflies, perhaps?
Or even, near my home,
Fires kindled by the fisherfolk? |
Ariwara no Narihira
在原業平
Composed watching fireflies flying upwards.
いづちとかよるは蛍のゝぼるらんゆくかたしらぬ草の枕に
izuchi to ka
yoru wa hotaru no
noboruran
yuku kata shiranu
kusa no makura ni |
Whither bound?
At night the fireflies
Ascend;
Destination unknown,
Pausing briefly, pillowed on the grasses. |
Mibu no Tadami
Topic unknown.
哀にもみさをにもゆる螢かな聲たてつべき此世と思ふに
aFare ni mo
misawo ni moyuru
Fotaru kana
kowe tatetubeki
kono yo to omoFu ni |
It moves me to see,
Burning above the mooring poles,
Fireflies
For I could cry out loud
At this world of ours. |
Minamoto no Toshiyori
源俊頼
Composed as a firefly poem, when he presented a hundred-poem sequence.
昔わがあつめし物を思ひ出てみなれがほにも來る螢かな
mukasi wa ga
atumesi mono wo
omoFi’idete
minaregaFo ni mo
kuru Fotaru kana |
In my youth I
Gathered them–
How well I do recall
The familiar sight
Of approaching fireflies. |
Fujiwara no Suemichi
When she had been forgotten by a man, she went to Kibune, and composed this on seeing fireflies flitting about by the Mitarashi River.
物思へば澤の螢も我身よりあくがれ出づる玉かとぞみる
mono’omoFeba
saFa no Fotaru mo
wa ga mi yori
akugare iduru
tama ka to zo miru |
I’m at such a loss;
Fireflies by the marsh:
From my breast
Wanders out
My soul, or so it seems. |
Izumi Shikibu
和泉式部
Composed on fireflies.
おともせで思ひにもゆる螢こそなく虫よりも哀なりけれ
oto mo sede
omoFi ni moyuru
Fotaru koso
naku musi yori mo
aFare narikere |
Making no sound
Yet burning with love,
Fireflies far
More than chirping insects,
Move me. |
Minamoto no Shigeyuki
Topic unknown.
ゆく螢雲の上までいぬべくは秋風吹くと雁に告げこせ
yuku Fotaru
kumo no uFe made
inubeku Fa
aki kaze Fuku to
kari ni tugekose |
O, flitting fireflies,
Beyond the clouds
Should you ascend, then say,
‘ The Autumn wind is blowing!’
To the geese. |
Narihira
業平
A poem composed at a competition held by Her Majesty, the Empress during the Kampyô era (889-898).
ゆふされば螢よりけにもゆれどもひかりみねばや人のつれなき
yuFu sareba
Fotaru yori ke ni
moyuredomo
Fikari mineba ya
Fito no turenaki |
With the fall of evening,
The fireflies’ are as nothing beside
My burning, yet
I cast no light, so
Will my love stay chill? |
Ki no Tomonori
紀友則
'Simply moving and elegant'