さ月やみさよふけぬらし時鳥神なび山におのが妻よぶ
satsuki yami sayo fukenurashi hototogisu kaminabiyama ni ono ga tsuma yobu | In the drizzling dark It seems brief night has fallen, for A cuckoo On the sacred mount Is calling for his mate. |
五月やみ神なびやまのほととぎす妻ごひすらし鳴くねかなしも
satsuki yami kaminabiyama no hototogisu tsumagoisurashi naku ne kanashi mo | In the drizzling dark On the sacred mount A cuckoo Longs for his mate, it seems, for The calls he cries are truly so sad… |
客尓為而 妻恋為良思 霍公鳥 神名備山尓 左夜深而鳴
旅にして妻恋すらし霍公鳥神なび山にさ夜更けて鳴く
tabi ni site tuma kopisurasi pototogisu kamunabiyama ni sayo pukete naku | On your journey You must love your wife as I O, cuckoo, Upon sacred Kaminabi Mountain That you cry at brief night’s dawn… |
Anonymous
Sakaki 榊
万代の色もかはらぬためしには神なび山のさか木をぞとる
yorozuyo no iro mo kawaranu tameshi ni wa kaminabiyama no sakaki o zo toru | Ten-thousand generations Of unchanging hues Do they display, so From the holy mountain Will I gather sacred sakaki. |
Higo
'Simply moving and elegant'