泣きまさる我が泪にや色變る物思ふ宿の庭のむら萩
nakimasaru
wa ga namida ni ya
iro kawaru
mono’omou yado no
niwa no murahagi |
Shed endlessly,
Will my tears
Change the hues of
My thought-sunk dwelling’s
Clump of bush clover in the garden? |
いかにせむ葛はふ松の時のまも恨みて吹かぬ秋風ぞなき
ika ni semu
kuzu hau matsu no
toki no ma mo
uramite fukanu
akikaze zo naki |
What am I to do?
The creepers twining round the pine
At every moment
Reveal their bitter undersides in the ever
Gusting autumn wind. |
故郷を別路に生ふる葛の葉の風は吹けどもかへる世もなし
furusato o
wakareji ni ouru
kuzu no ha no
kaze wa fukedomo
kaeru yo mo nashi |
From my home
I parted, and along the path grew
Trailing creepers’ leaves,
Blown by the wind, yet
Never in this world shall I return there. |
咲きかゝる山下道も迷ふまで玉ぬき亂る萩の夕露
sakikakaru
yamashita michi mo
mayou made
tama nukimidaru
hagi no yūgure |
They seem about to bloom, and
The foothill path
Just goes astray,
Weighed down with gemlets is
The bush clover this evening. |
思ひやれ眞木のとぼそをおしあけて獨眺むる秋の夕暮
omoiyare
maki no toboso o
oshiakete
hitori nagamuru
aki no yūgure |
Imagine it!
A cedar-door
Pushed open upon
The solitary sight
Of an autumn evening. |
秋さればいとゞ思ひを眞柴刈るこの里人も袖や露けき
aki sareba
itodo omoi o
mashiba karu
kono satobito mo
sode ya tsuyukeki |
Now autumn has come
How much more does my gloom
Increase – cutting firewood
The village folk, too,
Have dew drenched sleeves. |
世の常の草葉の露にしほれつゝ物思ふ秋と誰かいひけむ
yo no tsune no
kusaba no tsuyu ni
shioretsutsu
mono’omou aki to
tare ka iikemu |
All the common
Plant and leaves with dew
Hang limp;
Autumn is a time for melancholy thought ?
Who said that, I wonder? |
みるからにかたへ涼しき夏衣日も夕暮のやまとなでしこ
miru kara ni
katae suzushiki
natsu koromo
hi mo yûgure no
yamato nadeshiko |
At the sight
How cool seems
My summer garb:
Tightening my sash, in the evening sun,
A fringed-pink flowers. |
呉竹の葉末片寄り降る雨に暑さひまあるみな月の空
kuretake no
hazue katayori
furu ame ni
atsusa hima aru
minatsuki no sora |
As the soft bamboo stalks’
Tips sweep from side to side
In the falling rain
There’s a break from the heat
Of the Sixth Month’s sky. |
夕涼み芦の葉亂れ寄る波に螢數そふあまのいさり火
yū suzumi
ashi no ha midare
yoru nami ni
hotaru kazu sou
ama no isaribi |
As the evening cools
The reed fronds are in disarray,
Brushed by the waves, as
A multitude of fireflies
Appear like fishing lights. |
'Simply moving and elegant'