On the conception of chrysanthemums under the moon by a lattice fence, when she presented a hundred poem sequence.
霜をまつまがきの菊のよひの間におきまよふ色は山のはの月
shimo o matsu magaki no kiku no yoi no ma ni okimayou iro wa yama no ha no tsuki | Awaiting the frost By my lattice fence, the chrysanthemums In the midst of night Are draped in puzzling hues By the moon from off the mountains’ edge. |
Kunaikyō
Left (Tie)
わがやどのきくの花しももみぢねばすぎゆく秋もあらじとぞおもふ
wa ga yado no kiku no hana shimo momijineba sugiyuku aki mo araji to zo omou | At my house Even the chrysanthemum blooms Have yet to take on autumn hues, so The season’s passing I do not seem to feel! |
15
Right
はかなくてすぐる秋とは知りながらをしむ心のなほあかぬかな
hakanakute suguru aki to wa shirinagara oshimu kokoro no nao akanu kana | Brief, indeed, is Autumn’s passing, that I know so well, yet The regrets within my heart are Ever unsatisfied! |
16
きくの露わかゆばかりにそでふれて花のあるじに千代はゆづらむ
kiku no tsuyu wakayu bakari ni sode furete hana no aruji ni chiyo wa yuzuramu | Chrysanthemum dew a little Youth, just, will Bring to my sleeves; To the flower’s mistress I would gift a thousand generations! |
On an old woman wiping her face with chrysanthemum dew on the ninth day of the Ninth Month.
けふまでに我をおもへば菊の上の露は千年の玉にざりける
kyō made ni ware o omoeba kiku no ue no tsuyu wa chitose no tama nizarikeru | Up until this day Have you thought of me, so Upon the chrysanthemums These dewdrops, thousand year Jewels do not seem to be. |
Ki no Tsurayuki
つゆながらをりてかざさむきくのはなおいせぬ秋のひさしかるべく[1]
tsuyu nagara orite kasasamu kiku no hana oisenu aki no hisashikarubeku | Dew-dappled Let us pluck and wear Chrysanthemum blooms That an Autumn of eternal youth Should last forever! |
71
[1] This poem is included in Kokinshū (V: 270), where it is attributed to Ki no Tomonori.
もみぢばのながるるあきはかはごとににしきあらふとひとはみるらん[1]
momijiba no nagaruru aki wa kawa goto ni nishiki arau to hito wa miruramu | The scarlet leaves Flow and in autumn By every river Washing their brocade Folk can be seen! |
ひしくればよるもめかれじきくのはなあきすぎぬればあふべきものか
hi shi kureba yoru mo mekareji kiku no hana aki suginureba aubeki mono ka | When the day is here, At night you do escape my sight, O, chrysanthemums; When autumn has passed by, I wonder shall we meet again? |
70
[1] This poem is included in Gosenshū (VII: 415).
万代を菊の種とや蒔きそめて花見る毎に祈り来にける
yoroduyo wo
kiku no tane to ya
makisomete
Fana miru goto ni
inorikinikeru |
“For ten thousand generations!”
Chrysanthemum seeds
I have begun to sew, and
With the sight of every bloom,
That was my fervent prayer! |
19
秋果てて冬はとなりになりぬとて飽かねば菊を匂ひくはふる
aki Fatete
Fuyu Fa tonari ni
narinu tote
akaneba kiku wo
nioFi kuFaFuru |
Autumn is done, and
Winter is close
At hand, they say;
When I am left wanting more, the chrysanthemums’
Scent grows thicker. |
18
Composed on someone passing through chrysanthemums to reach a sage’s dwelling.
濡れて干す山路の菊の露のまにいつか千歳を我は経にけむ
nurete Fosu yamazi no kiku no tuyu no ma ni ituka titose wo ware Fa Fenikemu | Drenched, then drying On this mountain path with chrysanthemum Dewdrops—in that little space Has, somehow, a thousand years Passed me by? |
Sosei
17
This poems was included in Kokinshū (V: 273), where it has a somewhat different headnote.
菊の水齢を延べずあらませばさとも荒さで今日あはましや
kiku no midu
yowaFi wo nobezu
aramaseba
sato mo arasade
keFu aFamasi ya |
The chrysanthemums’ waters
Age do not extend –
If that were so, then
Would undisarrayed their estate be where
We would meet today? |
15
'Simply moving and elegant'