When she had gone to a mountain temple around autumn, and heard the insects crying.
こころにはひとつみのりとおもへどもむしはこゑごゑきこゆなるかな
| kokoro ni wa hitotsu minori to omoedomo mushi wa koegoe kikoyunaru kana | In my heart One sacred truth I hold, yet from The insects song upon song I hear! |
Izumi Shikibu
Left
秋すぐとねをもなくかなふか草のかげとたのめるむしならなくに
| aki sugu to ne o mo naku kana fukakusa no kage to tanomeru mushi naranaku ni | ‘Autumn passes by!’ Goes the cry—though Upon the deep grasses’ Shade relying Are there no insects at all… |
29
Right
いづかたに心をやらんあかずしてすぎゆく秋ををしみとどめで
| izukata ni kokoro o yaran akazushite sugiyuku aki o oshimi todomede | Whither Should I incline my heart? Unsatisfied, With autumn’s passing Regrets linger on… |
30
をみなへしあきののをわけをりつればやどあれぬとてまつむしぞなく
| ominaeshi aki no no o wake oritsureba yado arenu tote matsumushi zo naku | O, maidenflower, Through the autumn meadows did I press To pick you, so My home has gone to ruin where The pine crickets sing. |
Yasuki
35
むしのねになきまどはせるをみなへしをればたもとにきりのこりゐる
| mushi no ne ni naki madowaseru ominaeshi oreba tamoto ni kiri nokori’iru | The insects’ cries With her sobs are confused, that Maidenflower, I pluck her, and within my sleeve Traces of the mists do linger. |
Amane
36
Left
雁がねにおどろく秋のよを寒み虫のおりだす衣をぞきる
| kari ga ne ni odoroku aki no yo o samumi mushi no oridasu koromo o zo kiru | The goose cries are Startling on an autumn Night so chill The insects’ woven Robes I will put on! |
106[1]
Right
あき風はたがたむけとか紅葉ばをぬさにきりつつ吹きちらすらん
| akikaze wa ta ga tamuke to ka momijiba o nusa ni kiritsutsu fukichirasuran | The autumn wind: To whom does it make its offering Of scarlet leaves? Ever cutting them to streamers, and Seeming to scatter them with its gusts… |
107
[1] Fubokushō XII: 4881
Left
おく山に紅葉ふみわけ鳴く鹿の声きく時ぞ秋はかなしき
| okuyama ni momiji fumiwake naku shika no koe kiku toki zo aki wa kanashiki | Deep within the mountains Forging through the scarlet leaves When a belling stag’s Cry I hear, indeed, Autumn is so sad. |
82
Right
わがために来る秋にしもあらなくに虫の音聞けば先ぞかなしき
| wa ga tame ni kuru aki ni shimo aranaku ni mushi no ne kikeba saki zo kanashiki | Not for my sake Has autumn come And yet, When the insects’ cries I hear What lies ahead is sad, indeed. |
83
Left
かりそめのみやたのまれぬ夏の日をなど空蝉のなきくらしつる
| karisome no mi ya tanomarenu natsu no hi o nado utsusemi no nakikurashitsuru | Is my transient Flesh untrustworthy? On a summer day Why does the cicada, an empty shell, Cry the day away? |
47[1]
Right
はかもなき夏のくさ葉におく露を命とたのむ虫のはかなさ
| haka mo naki natsu no kusaba ni oku tsuyu o inochi to tanomu mushi no hakanasa | Fleetingly Upon the blades of summer grass Falls the dew— A lifetime, I expect, for The short-lived insects. |
48
[1] A minor variant of this poem, with a headnote associating it with this contest, occurs in Shokugosenshū (XVI: 1058): かりそめの世やたのまれぬ夏の日をなどうつせみのなきくらしつる karisome no / yo ya tanomarenu / natsu no hi o / nado utsusemi no / nakikurashitsuru ‘Is this transient / World untrustworthy? / On a summer day / Why does the cicada, an empty shell, / Cry the day away?’
あきのむしなどわびしげにこゑのするたのめしかげに露やもりくる
| aki no mushi nado wabishige ni koe no suru tanomeshi kage ni tsuyu ya morikuru | Why do the autumn insects And more let out plaintive Cries; Is your trustworthy face Drenched in dew? |
67
もみぢばのながれてゆけば山がはのあさきせだにもあきはふかみぬ
| momijiba no nagareteyukeba yamagawa no asaki se dani mo aki wa fukaminu | The scarlet leaves Have come flowing, so The mountain stream’s Shallow rapids—even they Are deep in autumn! |
68
あきくればむしとともにぞなかれぬるひとも草ばもかれぬと思へば[1]
| aki kureba mushi to tomo ni zo nakarenuru hito mo kusaba mo karenu to omoeba | When the autumn comes Together with the insects Do I weep, That both folk and grass and leaves Have withered, is in my thoughts… |
33
からにしきみだれるのべとみえつるはあきのこのはのふるにざりける
| karanishiki midareru nobe to mietsuru wa aki no ko no ha no furu ni zarikeru | For Cathay brocade Confused the meadows Do seem, for In autumn, the leaves from the trees Have truly fallen! |
34
[1] This poem also occurs in Fubokushō (5580).
秋のよにひとまつことのわびしきはむしさへともになけばなりけり
| aki no yo ni hito matsu koto no wabishiki wa mushi sae tomo ni nakeba narikeri | On an autumn night Awaiting him is so Sad and lonely, When even the insects with me Are crying… |
25
ちりまがふあきのもみぢをみるごとにそでにしぐれのふらぬ日はなし[1]
| chirimagau aki no momiji o miru koto ni sode ni shigure no furanu hi wa nashi | Confusedly scattering are The scarlet leaves of autumn; Seeing them, Upon my sleeves the drizzle Never fails to fall each day. |
26
[1] This poems also appears in Fubokushō (6273), where it is attributed to Ariwara no Motokata,