The Middle of Autumn
Left (Tie)
くもゐよりてりやまさるときよたきのそこにてもみむあきのつきかげ
kumoi yori teri ya masaru to kiyotaki no soko nite mo mimu aki no tsukikage | From the clouds Does it shine most bright? On Kiyotaki’s Riverbed I see Autumn moonlight. |
13
Right
人しれぬねをやなくらんあきはぎのはなさくまでにしかのこゑせぬ
hito shirenu ne o ya nakuran aki hagi no hana saku made ni shika no koe senu | That no one may know Quietly, does he cry? Until the autumn bush clover Blooms flower The stag’s bell stays silent. |
Mitsune
14
The End of Summer
Left
なくこゑはするものからに身はむなしあなおぼつかなうつせみのよや
naku koe wa suru mono kara ni mi wa munashi ana obotsukana utsusemi no yo ya | Their voices sing And yet Their flesh is empty— O, how strange is A cicada shell world! |
Tadamine
9
Right (Win)
ほととぎすをちかへりなけうなゐこがうちたれがみのさみだれのこゑ
hototogisu ochikaeri nake unaiko ga uchitaregami no samidare no koe | A cuckoo Calls again and again; A child’s shoulder-brushing Hair dangling down: The song of a summer shower. |
Mitsune
10
The Eighth Month.
人しれぬねをやなくらん秋萩の色づくまでに鹿の声せぬ
hito shirenu ne o ya nakuran aki hagi no irozuku made ni shika no koe senu | That no one may know Quietly, does he cry? Until the autumn bush clover Shows fair hues The stag’s bell stays silent. |
Mitsune
Composed on plovers on the road to the barrier.
淡路島かよふちどりのなくこゑにいく夜ねざめぬ須磨の関守
awajishima kayou chidori no naku koe ni ikuyo nesamenu suma no sekimori | To Awaji Isle Fly back and forth the plovers— Their calling cries have Wakened, on how many nights, The wardens of Suma barrier? |
Minamoto no Kanemasa
Azaleas
Left
かりがねにおもひかけつつしのばなんあまつそらなるわが身なりとも
kari ga ne ni omoikaketsutsu shinobanan ama tsu sora naru wa ga mi naritomo | Upon the goose cries Ever hang your thoughts, and Remember, that Within the sky-spanning heavens I may yet be… |
Sadafun
15
Right
うぐひすのこゑなつかしくなきつるはのちもこひつつしのばなむとか
uguisu no koe natsukashiku nakitsuru wa nochi mo koitsutsu shinobanamu to ka | Does the warbler’s Song so charmingly Ring out that Later, ever fondly Will he be remembered? |
16
人ならばまててふべきをほととぎすふたこゑとだにきかですぎぬる
hito naraba mate chōbeki o hototogisu futa koe to dani kikade suginuru | Were you a man, ‘Wait!’ is what I’d tell you, O, cuckoo! For without even a second call For me to hear have you passed by. |
Fujiwara no Motozane
Listening to a flute in a village.
おきゐつつねざめのみするころにしもよぶかきふえのこゑをきくかな
oki’itsutsu nezame nomi suru koro ni shi mo yobu kakibue no koe o kiku kana | Ever and always on arising and Waking from sleep, that Is when, The call of a flute beside my fence Is the sound I hear! |
Minamoto no Michinari (?-1019)
源道済
On plucking the zither, playing the flute, and enjoying herself somewhere.
聞く人のみみさへさむく秋風に吹きあはせたる笛のこゑかな
kiku hito no mimi sae samuku akikaze ni fukiawasetaru fue no koe kana | The folk listening Have even had their ear chilled By the autumn breeze Blowing to them together with The flute’s notes! |
Izumi Shikibu (?-976?)
和泉式部
On the Seventh Night, when someone’s child had been born.
雲ゐにもいまはまつらむあしべなる声ふりたつるつるのひな鳥
kumoi ni mo ima wa matsuramu ashibenaru koe furitatsuru tsuru no hinadori | Within the clouds, too, Now, they are surely celebrating Among the reed-beds The song arises of A crane’s chick! |
Fujiwara no Motozane
Left
秋のせみさむき声にぞきこゆなる木のはの衣を風やぬぎつる
aki no semi samuki koe ni zo kikoyunaru ko no ha no kinu o kaze ya nugitsuru | In the autumn, the cicadas’ Chill song I hear; Has the trees’ garb of leaves Been stripped from them by the wind? |
112[1]
Right
あきの夜の月の影こそ木の間よりおちてはきぬとみえわたりけれ
aki no yo no tsuki no kage koso ko no ma yori ochite wa kinu to miewatarikere | On an autumn night The moon’s light, truly, From between the trees Does come a’falling Everywhere, it seems. |
113
[1] Shinsen man’yōshū 109/Fubokushō XIII: 5422
'Simply moving and elegant'