夏の日の俄かに曇る夕立の思ひもかけぬ世にもあるかな
natu no Fi no
niFka ni kumoru
yuFudati no
omoFi mo kakenu
yo ni mo aru kana |
A summer day
Briefly clouded by
An evening shower:
How unexpected
Is this world! |
A poem by the Governor-General of Dazai, Lord Ōtomo.
橘の花散る里の霍公鳥片恋しつつ鳴く日しぞ多き
tatibana no
pana tiru sato no
pototogisu
kata kopisitutu
naku pi si zo opoki |
Orange
Blossom scatters round my estate where
The cuckoo
For unrequited love
Does cry on many a day… |
Ōtomo no Tabito
Two poems composed on birds.
霍公鳥今来鳴きそむあやめぐさかづらくまでに離るる日あらめや
pototogisu
ima kinakisomu
ayamegusa
kaduraku made ni
karuru pi arame ya |
The cuckoo
Has now begun to sing;
Until sweet-flags
Garland all
Will there be any days he flies away? |
Ōtomo no Yakamochi
夜をかさね戸無瀬の方に見ゆる火は鵜舟に灯すか篝なりけり
yo o kasane
tonase no kata ni
miyuru hi wa
ubune ni tomosu
kagari narikeri |
Night upon night
Towards Tonase
Can I see the lights;
Kindled upon the cormorant boats
Are torches. |
夏の日の暮れば灯す篝火の幾夜か川にかげ浮かぶらむ
natsu no hi no
kurureba tomosu
kakaribi no
ikuyo ka kawa ni
kage ukaburamu |
When to summer days’
Dusk comes, kindled
Torches,
Every night upon the river
Do seem to float their light. |
Fujiwara no Tametada (? – 1136)
藤原為忠
In reply.
東屋の萱が下にし乱るればいさや月日のゆくも知られず
adumaya no
kaya ga sita ni si
midarureba
isa ya tukiFi no
yuku mo sirarezu |
A crude hut’s
Roof of silver-grass – beneath it
All is in confusion, so
How the days and months
Do pass, I know not! |
The Mother of Prince Yasusuke
康資王母
For a folding screen for His Majesty, in the Tenryaku Era.
散りぬべき花見る時は管のねの長き春日も短かゝりけり
tirinubeki
Fana miru toki Fa
suga no ne no
nagaki Faru Fi mo
midikakarikeri |
Sure to fall are
These blossoms – at the sight
Sedge-root
Long spring days do
Seem so short! |
Fujiwara no Kiyomasa (?-958)
藤原清正
別れにし手束の弓の白鳥を紀の川ゆすり恋ひぬ日ぞなき
wakarenishi
tatsuka no yumi no
shiratori o
ki no kawa yuzuri
koinu hi zo naki |
We did part, and
Bow in hand,
Like a swan
Swaying on the River Ki
There’s not a day that I don’t love you… |
Minamoto no Shunrai
源俊頼
When she was asked to send something to the house of a man.
はる日さす藤のうら葉のうちとけて君し思はば我もたのまん
Faru Fi sasu
Fudi no uraba
utitokete
kimi si omoFaba
ware mo tanoman |
Spring sun shines on
The wisteria’s underleaves;
If kindly
You do think of me, then
I, too, will grant my trust. |
Anonymous
恋死なむ後は何せむ我が命生ける日にこそ見まく欲りすれ
kopisinamu
noti pa nani semu
wa ga inoti
ikeru pi ni koso
mimakuporisure |
When I have died of love
What will you do then?
While my life’s
Living days remain
I wish that we would meet! |
'Simply moving and elegant'