Composed to accompany a letter sent to someone who had gone down to Michinoku province.
たまぼこのみちの山風さむからばかたみがてらにきなんとぞおもふ
| tamaboko no michi no yama kaze samukaraba katamigatera ni ki nan to zo omou |
A jewelled spear, The road where mountain winds Blow chill, if so These keepsake robes I would that you would wear. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
A poem from a folding screen in the Engi period.
いのりつゝなを長月のきくの花いづれの秋かうへてみざらん
| inoritsutsu nao naga tsuki no kiku no hana izure no aki ka uete mizaran |
Ever in my prayers- Throughout the longest month Chrysanthemum blooms; And in which Autumn might it be? They were planted, and never seen. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
A poem from a folding screen in the Engi period.
ゆふだすきちとせをかけてあしびきの山あゐのいろはかはらざりけり
| yūdasuki chi tose o kakete ashihiki no yama ai no iro wa kawarazarikeri |
Sacred mulberry cord Hung for a thousand years; Leg-wearying Indigo hue Will never fade. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Composed for the picture of picking new herbs on a folding screen for the celebrations of the sixtieth birthday of Emperor Uda.
わかなおふるのべといふのべを君がためよろづよしめてつまんとぞ思
| wakana ôru nobe to iu nobe o kimi ga tame yorozu yo shimete tsuman to zo omou |
New herbs grow Within the fields-called so For my Lord’s sake Across ten thousand years We will pick them, I feel. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
From the Tsukinami folding screen of the Engi Period (901- 923).
おほぞらをわれもながめてひこぼしのつまゝつよさへひとりかもねん
| ōzora o ware mo nagamete hikoboshi no tsuma matsu yo sae hitori ka mo nen |
On the heavens I, too, turn my gaze, As does the Herd Boy: Until the night he awaits his bride Must I sleep alone? |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
On a folding screen of the moon, in the Engi period (901-923).
みそぎする河のせみればからころも日もゆふぐれに浪ぞたちける
| misogi suru kawa no semi nareba karakoromo hi mo yūgure ni nami zo tachikeru |
The purifying River rapids: all in Cathay robes Sashes wound around, at evening time The waves are rising. |
Tsurayuki
貫之