Cherry Blossom
Left (Tie)
わがそのへいざかへりなむあさがほのひとはなさくらのはなりにけり
wa ga sono e iza kaerinamu asagao no hito hana sakura no wa narinikeri | To my garden, Well, I must return, for A morning glory’s Single bloom in flower seems To have turned it to a meadow. |
Okikaze
9
Right
はるはきぬたねにまくべきいねはなさくらのはなへにおろしはててよ
haru wa kinu tane ni makubeki ine wa nasa kura no hanae ni oroshihateteyo | Spring has come, and The seeds must be sown; No seedlings sprout Beside the storehouse Sow them all! |
10
Composed on the moon at dawn at a mountain retreat.
やまざとのかどたのいねのほのぼのとあくるもしらず月を見るかな
yamazato no kadota no ine no Fonobono to akuru mo sirazu tuki o miru kana | At a mountain retreat, that The rice seedlings in the paddy ‘fore my gate Are dimly Brightening, I know not, for My gaze is on the moon! |
Middle Counsellor Akitaka
中納言顕隆
Left (Tie).
早苗より穂にいづるまで守る田をかりにのみこそ人は見えけれ
sanaFe yori Fo ni iduru made mamoru ta wo kari ni nomi koso Fito Fa miekere | From seedlings Until ripened ears appear, Warding the paddies, Only briefly, then, Can folk be seen! |
Anonymous
13
Right.
秋の田に並みよる稲は山川に水ひきうゑし早苗なりけり
aki no ta ni nami yoru ine Fa yamagaFa ni midu Fiki’uwesi sanaFe narikeri | In the autumn fields Waves run through the ripening rice; From a mountain stream Drawn up, the waters Seedlings have become… |
Yori’ie
頼家
14
朝露のおくての稲は稲妻を恋ふと濡れてや乾かざるらむ
asatuyu no
okute no ine Fa
inaduma wo
koFu to nurete ya
kawakazaruramu |
Morning dew
Falls upon the sprouting rice;
Is it the lightning’s
Love that wets it, so
It does never seem to dry? |
Left.
秋風にそよぐ田の面のいねがてにまつ明方の初雁の聲
aki kaze ni
soyogu ta no mo no
ine ga te ni
matsu akekata no
hatsukari no koe |
The autumn wind
Rustles o’er the fields
Of rice; sleepless
I await the dawn’s
First goose-call. |
65
Right (Win)
生駒山あらしも秋の色に吹手染の糸のよるぞかなしき
ikoma yama
arashi mo aki no
iro ni fuku
tezome no ito no
yoru zo kanashiki |
Upon Ikoma Mountain
The storm wind with autumn’s longing
Hues is gusting;
Hand-dyed thread
Twining in the night is sad, indeed. |
66
On harvesting rice.
よの中は稲かる頃か草の庵
yo no naka wa
ine karu koro ka
kusa no io |
Out in the world
Is it rice harvest time, I wonder,
From within my hut of grass. |
(1685-87)
'Simply moving and elegant'