In the same reign, when His Majesty’s Gentlemen were drawing topic by lot and presenting poems, he drew ‘fishing boats’ and composed this.
いはおろすかたこそなけれいせの海のしほせにかかるあまのつり舟
iFa orosu kata koso nakere ise no umi no siFose ni kakaru ama no turibune To drop their stones Is there no place at all, At the sea off Ise Caught by the rushing tides are The seafolk’s fishing boats…
Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Toshitada
Created with Soan .
Left
さよふけてなどかなくらむほととぎすたびねのやどをかすひとやなき
sayo fukete nado ka nakuramu hototogisu tabine no yado o kasu hito ya naki Brief night breaks, so Why does he cry so? The cuckoo A lodging on his journey Has no one to lend him!
49
Right (Win)
なつのいけによるべさだめぬうきくさのみづよりほかにゆくかたもなし
natsu no ike ni yorube sadamenu ukikusa no mizu yori hoka ni yuku kata mo nashi Upon the pond in summer No destination has The waterweed, so Other than the water It has no place to go…
Okikaze 50
Left (Tie)
あふことのいまはかたほになるふねのかざままつ身はよるかたもなし
au koto no ima wa katao ni naru fune no kazama matsu mi wa yoru kata mo nashi Meeting you has made me Now a reef-sailed Boat Awaiting the wind, with No course to set.
33
Right
ねでまちしはつかのつきのはつかにもあひみしことをいつかわすれむ
nede machishi hatsuka no tsuki no hatsuka ni mo aimishi koto o itsuka wasuremu Sleepless I awaited The twentieth night’s moon, when In the dimness We did meet— When might I forget it?
34
Left
常盤なる松のみどりも春くれば今一しほの色まさりけり
tokiwa narumatsu no midori mo haru kureba ima hitoshio no iro masarikeri When to the eternal Pine’s green Spring does come, Now all the more vibrant Is its hue!
39[1]
Right
くる春にあはむことこそかたからめ過行く方におくれずもがな
kuru haru ni awamu koto koso katakarame sugiyuku kata ni okurezu mogana With arriving spring To meet is truly Hard, indeed, but On the path it take passing by I would not have it linger!
40
[1] Kokinshū I: 24, attributed to Minamoto no Muneyuki.
難波潟鶴ぞ鳴くなるこれやこの田蓑の島のわたりなるらむ
naniFagata
tadu zo nakunaru
kore ya kono
tamino no sima no
watari naruramu
At the shore of Naniwa
The cranes are crying;
Is it true that
Tamino Isle
Does lie nearby?
Minamoto no Moroyori
源師頼
今年行く新防人が麻衣肩のまよひは誰れか取り見む
kotosi yuku
niisima-mori ga
asagoromo
kata no mayopi pa
tare ka torimimu
This year will I go there, but
The warden of Niishima’s
Hempen coat:
Should the shoulders fray,
Who might mend them for me?
Left (Tie)
仄かなる声を聞きては時鳥鳴きつる方をまづぞ求むる
Fonokanaru
kowe wo kikite Fa
Fototogisu
nakituru kata wo
madu zo motomuru
Your faint
Song I do hear
O, cuckoo,
Along the path you call
Am I in truth invited.
9
Right
小夜更けぬ布留の都の 時鳥帰る雲路の声を聞かせよ
sayo Fukete
Furu no miyako no
Fototogisu
kaFeru kumodi no
kowe wo kikaseyo
The brief night dawns
At the ancient capital of Furu;
O, cuckoo
From your homeward path among the clouds
Let me hear your song!
10
A poem composed when the officials of the government headquarters in Dazai had visited the palace at Kashii, and halted their mounts on the shore at Kashii on the way home, in the winter, Eleventh Month, Jinki 5 [729].
いざ子ども香椎の潟に白栲の袖さへ濡れて朝菜摘みてむ
iza kodomo
kasipi no kata ni
sirotape no
sode sape nurete
asana tumitemu
Hey, fellows all!
On the tidelands of Kashii
Even white mulberry
Sleeves are soaked, so
Let’s gather greens for breakfast!
Ōtomo no Tabito
大伴旅人
Topic unknown.
わが宿は播磨潟にもあらなくに明石も果で人の行くらむ
wa ga yado Fa
Farimagata ni mo
aranaku ni
akasi mo Fatede
Fito no yukuramu
My home
By Harima’s inlet
Lies not, yet
He brings none of Akashi’s brightness
With his coming…
Anonymous
'Simply moving and elegant'