Left
夏の風我が袂にしつつまればおもはむ人のつとにしてまし
natsu no kaze
wa ga tamoto ni shi
tsutsumareba
omowamu hito no
tsuto ni shitemashi | The summer breeze
Within my sleeves
Has become entangled, so
For the one I’m longing for
I would take it as a gift. |
51
Right
なつ草のしげき思ひは蚊遣火の下にのみこそもえ渡りけれ
natsukusa no
shigeki omoi wa
kayaribi no
shita ni nomi koso
moewatarikere | As summer grasses
Lush my fires of passion: as
Mosquito smudges,
Beneath they simply
Burn everywhere. |
52[1]
[1] Shinchokusenshū XII: 709/Shinsen man’yōshū 79
A poem from the Poetry Contest held by the Dowager Empress during the Reign of the Kanpyō Emperor.
なつ草のしげき思ひは蚊遣火の下にのみこそもえ渡りけれ
natsukusa no
shigeki omoi wa
kayaribi no
shita ni nomi koso
moewatarikere | As summer grasses
Lush my fires of passion: as
Mosquito smudges,
Beneath they simply
Burn everywhere. |
Anonymous
山賤の背面に立つる蚊遣り火の下に燻りてやみぬべきかな
yamagatu no
sotomo ni taturu
kayaribi no
sita ni kuyurite
yaminubeki kana |
A mountain man:
Behind him stands
A smudge fire
Drifting down –
Has he halted it, I wonder! |
Kawachi, from the household of the Former Ise Virgin
前斎宮河内
雲かかるとをちのさとのかやりびは煙たつとも見えぬなりけり
kumo kakaru
tōchi no sato no
kayaribi wa
keburi tatsutomo
mienunarikeri |
Draped with cloud
In far distant Tōchi
From the smudge pots
Smoke rises, yet
Indeed, I see it not! |
Minamoto no Moritoki
源師時
(1077-1136)
Again, the man:
うへにのみおろかにもゆるかやり火のよにもそこには思ひこがれし
ue ni nomi
oroka ni moyuru
kayaribi no
yo ni mo soko ni wa
omoikogareshi |
On the surface alone
Perfunctorily smouldering
As a smudge-pot
And certainly not from the depths
Do you burn with passion! |
Anonymous
'Simply moving and elegant'