On a folding screen.
くれぬとはおもふものからふぢなみのさけるやどには春ぞひさしき
kurenu to wa
omouru mono kara
fujinami no
sakeru yado ni wa
haru zo hisashiki |
It is past and gone
I feel yet, where
Wisteria waves
Bloom in this house
Spring will last forever. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
吉野川きしの山吹ふく風にそこのかげさへうつろひにけり
yosinogaFa
kisi no yamabuki
Fuku kaze ni
soko no kage saFe
uturoFinikeri |
By the river Yoshino
The globeflowers on the bank,
With the gusting wind
Make the shadows on the river bed
Pale away. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
紀貫之
Topic unknown.
百羽がき羽かく鴫も我がごとく朝わびしき數はまさらじ
momo Fagaki
Fane kaku sigi mo
wa ga gotoku
asita wabisiki
kazu Fa masarazi |
The hundred wing-beat
Beating wings of the snipe:
My
Sadness on this morrow
Outnumbers them by far. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
From a folding screen with a picture of the moon, in the Engi period (901-23).
たなばたに脱ぎてかしつる唐衣いとゞ涙に袖や濡るらん
tanabata ni
nugite kasituru
kara koromo
itodo namida ni
sode ya nururan |
For the Weaver Maid
I’ll doff and proffer her
My Chinese robe;
What great flow of tears
Will wet its sleeves, I wonder. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
From a folding screen in the Engi period.
山里に知る人も哉郭公鳴きぬと聞かば告げに來るがに
yamazato ni
siru Fito mo gana
Fototogisu
nakinu to kikaba
tuge ni kuru ga ni |
Oh, that in the mountains
Lived someone that I knew!
The cuckoo
Would he hear call
And then come and tell me! |
Tsurayuki
貫之
With the same conception:
葦引の山下水はゆきかよひ琴の音にさへながるべら也
asiFiki no
yamasita midu Fa
yukikayoFi
koto no ne ni saFe
nagaruberanari |
Leg-wearying
Mountain waters beneath the trees
Do run;
With the zither’s tune
Do they seem to flow, indeed. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Topic unknown.
世中はうき物なれや人言のとにもかくにも聞こえ苦しき
yo no naka Fa
uki mono nare ya
Fitogoto no
to ni mo kaku ni mo
kikoe kurusiki |
This world of men
Is a hard place, is it not?
Folk’s words
Saying this and that
Spread rumours, causing pain. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
When he was talking to someone in secret, other people in the house created a disturbance, so he returned home and sent this to her:
曉と何か言ひけむ別るれば夜ゐもいとこそわびしかりけれ
akatuki to
nani ka iFikemu
wakarureba
yowi mo ito koso
wabisikarikere |
About the dawn,
What can I say?
But parting
At night is far more
Painful. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
Topic unknown.
うち群れていざ吾妹子が鏡山越えて紅葉の散らむ影見む
utimurete
iza wagimoko ga
kagami yama
koete momidi no
tiramu kage mimu |
Let’s get together,
Say, and dear
Kagami Mountain
Climb; the scarlet leaves
Scattering, will make a sight. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
みちしらばつみにもゆかむすみのえの岸におふてふこひわすれぐさ
miti siraba
tumi ni mo yukamu
suminoe no
kisi ni oFu teFu
koFiwasuregusa |
Did I but know the way
I would go and pluck,
On Suminoe’s
Shore the sprouting
Grass to forget my love. |
Tsurayuki
貫之
'Simply moving and elegant'